Re: Is hair alive?

Alix,

It depends on what you consider hair. The stuff that you see on peoples'
heads is dead. This is called the hair shaft. However, the hair is
manufactured in the scalp in a piece of tissue called the hair follicle. The
cells here are alive.

On a sideline, when you hear that someone gives hair samples for genetic
testing, it is not the hair shaft that is being used. This tissue is dead 
afterall and the cells in it have had their DNA destroyed in the process.
What they do is pull out the hair from the root, pulling some of the cells
from the hair follicle and it is these cells that are tested. Likewise, if
hair is found at a crime scene, it can only be used for genetic testing if
cells from the hair follicle are on it.

Hope this helps,

Jose Gomez
MD/PhD Program
University of Minnesota