What makes our hair look different? (BioE80 Spr2015)
May 26, 2015 • 6:54 PM UTC
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htale1
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What makes our hair look different? Something that frequently bothered me was finding a curly strand on my overall straight-haired head. I didn’t understand what could have caused this. Using the Foldoscope, I explored possibilities that could alter how our hair looks by examining healthy hair, gray hair, and split-ends.
From my slide of a split-end and a healthy hair strand, I noticed some drastic color differences. The split-end grows lighter in color, while the other sample is consistently brown throughout. This observation suggests that hair pigment fades over time since the hair samples were taken from one strand at different parts. However the split-end is thinner than the other, it could also mean that the color is simply due to more light passing through.
As for the gray hair slide, the strand is translucent. An unexpected feature in hair was the central dark streak along the length of hair. If we look back at the previous slide, the samples showed distinct lines running down it. The central line is broken in this gray strand. I predict this internal structure may be a protein associated with hair pigment and age. Loss of pigment could potentially cause this streak to break down.
As a followup, future Foldscope explorers could further investigate other hair types and colors to see if the observations above are consistent for different people’s hair! This could help us understand why our hair acts the way it does.
Anna Le
As a followup, future Foldscope explorers could further investigate other hair types and colors to see if the observations above are consistent for different people’s hair! This could help us understand why our hair acts the way it does.
Anna Le
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