As we age, pigment cells in our hair can go haywire and stop working properly — this might be sped up if there's a glitch in a key gene called MITF that controls how these color cells develop.

20

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

20

Community contributions welcome

20

Mechanisms of Hair Graying: Incomplete Melanocyte Stem Cell Maintenance in the Niche

Cross-Sectional Study

Human

2005 Feb 4

The study shows that as hair ages, the cells that make pigment don't stay in their proper place, and this gets worse when a key gene (MITF) is mutated — which matches the claim.

Contradicting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Mechanisms of Hair Graying: Incomplete Melanocyte Stem Cell Maintenance in the Niche

Score: 20

DOI: 10.1126/science.1099593

Similar Assertions

If there's a glitch in a gene called Mitf, it might cause the cells that give hair its color to go haywire too early, making animals gray faster as they age.

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As we age, the stem cells that give color to our hair can start acting up — they might turn into pigment cells too soon or in the wrong place, which could be why our hair turns gray.

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Your hair color depends on special stem cells in your hair roots, and long-term stress from inflammation or oxidation can mess them up, making them disappear or mature too soon.

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As we get older, the cells that give hair its color start to die off because of stress and lower levels of a protective protein, which is why hair turns gray and doesn’t grow back colored.

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