Scientists Discover Why Hair Turns Gray

Facts

According to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, scientists have discovered that “the loss of chameleon-like function" in melanocyte stem cells, or "McSCs," could be contributing to hair losing its color and turning gray during aging.¹
Scientists found that as hair ages, sheds, and then grows back, such McSCs get stuck in the bulge region of the hair follicles and lose their ability to regenerate into pigment cells and maintain hair color.²
Led by scientists from the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, the study focused on McSCs in mice and discovered the number of hair follicles with stuck melanocyte stem cells increased from 15% in young hair to over half in aging hair.³
For the two-year study, scientists used advanced techniques to track McSCs in real-time as they aged and moved within each hair follicle.⁴
The findings match with a revelation made in 2013 when scientists provided compelling evidence of how age-related changes in the McSCs contribute to hair graying.⁵
The discovery comes as the global hair color market is forecast to grow by 7.5% and reach $33.7B by 2030.⁶

Narrative A, as provided by Daily Mail. This study fills some gaps in the theories surrounding our understanding of how human hair gets and loses its color. The newfound mechanism for hair turning gray raises the possibility of developing a treatment to prevent graying. It might also help with alopecia areata, a medical condition where the immune system attacks the hair and causes it to fall out.
Narrative B, as provided by Mashable. The study's findings must be taken with a grain of salt since hair is a relatively new area of focus for stem cell research, and we still need to understand whether we can replicate these results in humans. Moreover, while scientists may develop new stem cell therapies to restore our hair color in later life, such treatments can be abused by the multi-billion-dollar global cosmetic industry.