Recent lay publications have pointed to a discovery by UT Southwestern Medical School researchers that reveal part of the molecular process for hair loss and hair graying. According to Yahoo News, Dr. Lu Le and colleagues were researching the cause of certain tumors. Accidentally they found a gene that leads to hair shaft production and the pigment in hair. When the gene was turned off in a mouse model, the mouse had gray hair and in some cases were bald.

Hair Loss Causes

The most common cause of hair loss is androgenic alopecia. Dr. Le’s team believes that the gene they described plays a part in androgenic alopecia. He was quoted as saying he hopes to be able to create a topical medication that would replicate the effect of the gene and reverse hair loss.