MadSci Network: General Biology |
Check 900697373.An Quote: To change naturally straight hair into naturally curly hair you would need to do one (or maybe both) of two things: * Alter the biochemistry of the hair follicle so that more disulfide bonds are formed as the hair grows (that is, make the follicle chemistry more oxidizing). * Alter the genes of the hair follicle so that more methionine and/or cysteine is incorporated into the keratin of the hair. End quote. To the best of my understanding, the incorporation of disulfide bonds depends less on biochemistry of the follicle and more on the exact location of the amino acid cysteine and other amino acids that may affect the shape of the shaft (round = straight; elliptical = curly; flat = very curly, sometimes called kinky) in the protein poly peptide. I'm guessing that not all keratin is exactly the same. The location of the amino acids would have a genetic determination. To the best of my knowledge, the technology to alter the genes that produce the hair structure is not yet available (but don't give up hope :-)
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