MadSci Network: General Biology
Query:

Re: how does hair gro if they are all dead cells?

Date: Thu Nov 9 19:50:05 2006
Posted By: Paul Nagami, Grad student, Developmental Biology Dept., Stanford University
Area of science: General Biology
ID: 1162712507.Gb
Message:

Good question. The thing is, the cells inside the hair itself don't grow;
as you pointed out, they're dead. Hair grows from below; it's pushed out of
little hair-generating pits in the skin called follicles. Here's a picture:
 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/HairFollicle.png

What divides are the cells in the follicles - and they do it very quickly.
If you look closely at the hairs on your arm, you may be able to see the
outer part of the follicles, which can be slightly discolored or pitted.

Thanks for asking!


Current Queue | Current Queue for General Biology | General Biology archives

Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on General Biology.



MadSci Home | Information | Search | Random Knowledge Generator | MadSci Archives | Mad Library | MAD Labs | MAD FAQs | Ask a ? | Join Us! | Help Support MadSci


MadSci Network, webadmin@madsci.org
© 1995-2006. All rights reserved.