How strange
May. 26th, 2004 08:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheNow There Is a Gene to Blame for That Cowlick
To study the gene's importance, Nathan's team bred genetically engineered mice that lacked Frizzled6 entirely and also created mice that had various active versions of the gene.
Mice that lacked the gene were normal and healthy but showed some unusual hair patterns such as whorls of hair on their hind feet or the back of their heads.
The researchers noted that a team reported in the journal Genetics last year that they had found a link between hair whorls and whether people are left- or right-handed.
This suggested "the possibility that the same system that patterns hair may also play a role in left-right asymmetry in the brain," they concluded.
To study the gene's importance, Nathan's team bred genetically engineered mice that lacked Frizzled6 entirely and also created mice that had various active versions of the gene.
Mice that lacked the gene were normal and healthy but showed some unusual hair patterns such as whorls of hair on their hind feet or the back of their heads.
The researchers noted that a team reported in the journal Genetics last year that they had found a link between hair whorls and whether people are left- or right-handed.
This suggested "the possibility that the same system that patterns hair may also play a role in left-right asymmetry in the brain," they concluded.