Will I Go Bald? Genetic Study Shows Complex Answer

Researchers searching for the genetic roots of hair loss say they’ve found more than 280 different genes are involved.

And they’ve come up with a formula that can predict a man’s risk of losing his hair, although it’s too soon to say there could be a blood test to forecast whether and when a man would start losing his hair.

It turns out that hair loss is very complicated genetically, the British team reports in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Genetics.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

“In this large genome-wide association study study of male pattern baldness, we identified 287 independent genetic signals that were linked to differences in the trait,” Riccardo Marioni and colleagues at the University of Edinburgh wrote.

Related: Cancer Drug Could be Baldness Remedy, Too

“The results of this study might help identify those at greatest risk of hair loss, and also potential genetic targets for intervention.”

The team studied the DNA from more than 52,000 mostly middle-aged men taking part in a gigantic British genetic experiment called BioBank.

"We identified hundreds of new genetic signals," said Saskia Hagenaars, a student who worked on the study.

Although hair loss runs strongly in families, men cannot always look at their fathers and predict their own fates, hair-wise. Some can blame their mothers, the researchers found.

The trawl though all of the mens’ genes found 40 linked with baldness on the X chromosome. The rest were scattered across the genome.

"It was interesting to find that many of the genetic signals for male pattern baldness came from the X chromosome, which men inherit from their mothers,” Hagenaars said in a statement.

Of the men in the study, 16,700 had no hair loss. Another 12,000 had slight hair loss; 14,000 had moderate hair loss and 9,800 had severe hair loss.

Related: New Technique Could Reverse Baldness

The researchers linked each man’s genetic pattern with the degree of hair loss.

Those with fewer-than-average hair loss genes were predictably less likely to go bald. Only 14 percent in this group were bald and 39 percent hadn’t lost any hair at all.

And 58 percent of those with the top 10 percent count of baldness genes also had some hair loss.

That makes the genetic pattern only somewhat predictive.

Related: Hair Loss Drug Linked to Severe Depression

However, it’s possible to predict whether a man will lose hair with pretty good certainty. Most are fated to at least have their hair thin out. “Male pattern baldness affects around 80 percent of men by the age of 80 years,” the researchers wrote.

"We are still a long way from making an accurate prediction for an individual's hair loss pattern,” Marioni said in a statement.

“However, these results take us one step closer. The findings pave the way for an improved understanding of the genetic causes of hair loss."