Clue to male baldness discovered

(BBC): A biological clue to male baldness has been discovered, raising the prospect of a treatment to stop or even reverse thinning hair. In studies of bald men and laboratory mice, US scientists pinpointed a protein that triggers hair loss. Drugs that target the pathway are already in development, they report in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The research could lead to a cream to treat baldness. Most men start to go bald in middle age, with about 80% of men having some hair loss by the age of 70. The male sex hormone testosterone plays a key role, as do genetic factors. They cause the hair follicles to shrink, eventually becoming so small that they are invisible, leading to the appearance of baldness.

Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have analysed which genes are switched on when men start to go bald.

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