When a certain gene is turned off in hair color cells in mice, their fur starts to gray early because the cells die off — but the ones that survive can still make pigment just fine.

When a certain gene is turned off in pigment cells in mice, their fur starts turning gray around 4 months old, and by 8 months, most of their hair has lost color — but normal mice don’t go gray, so this gene might help keep hair colored.

In mice with a broken Dguok gene, their hair turns gray because the stem cells that give color to hair disappear early, even before the color actually fades.

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.

When the energy factories in our cells don't work right, they leak harmful particles that can damage hair color cells and cause gray hair to show up too early.

Your hair needs energy from tiny power plants in cells (called mitochondria) to keep making pigment — without healthy mitochondria, your hair can't stay colored over time.