Baldness Gene Discovered — 1 In 7 Men "At Risk" 297
FiReaNGeL writes "Researchers conducted a genome-wide association study of 1,125 Caucasian men who had been assessed for male pattern baldness. They found two previously unknown genetic variants on chromosome 20 that substantially increased the risk of male pattern baldness. They then confirmed these findings in an additional 1,650 Caucasian men. 'If you have both the risk variants we discovered on chromosome 20 and the unrelated known variant on the X chromosome, your risk of becoming bald increases sevenfold. What's startling is that one in seven men have both of those risk variants.'" So maybe gene therapy will finally have a real purpose.
Badness? (Score:5, Funny)
I hope I'm not the only one misreading the title as "Badness gene found".
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Re:Badness? (Score:4, Funny)
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I hope I'm not the only one misreading the title as "Badness gene found".
I wouldn't mind a little bad-ass gene therapy myself.
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Well at least now that we've found the Badness Gene we finally have someone to blame for all those underfull hboxes.
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On my XBMC RSS feed I read it as "Boldness" and was confused on why they were at risk. At risk of being awesome I guess.
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No! (Score:2, Funny)
This is un-American! This is going to kill jobs, because wig makers will go out of business! Damn commie scientists!
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
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> This is un-American! This is going to kill jobs, because wig makers will go out of business!
Good riddance. Have you *seen* some of the atrocities that these guys have perpetrated on the heads of American men..?
Bankruptcy is too good for them!
Lets not forget Chromosome 21 (Score:3, Insightful)
We could use some of that gene therapy on the 21st chromosome as well. In fact, I'd rather see work there. Though it wouldn't likely be as profitable...
Re:Lets not forget Chromosome 21 (Score:5, Insightful)
Assuming you are talking about Down syndrome (since an Alzheimer's treatment would be stupendously profitable), that doesn't even make any sense: it's "trisomy 21", a duplication of the chromosome, and completely unrelated to gene therapy.
All in all, a bit of a stretch, just to get in knee-jerk dig at the pharmaceutical industry, wouldn't you say?
missing the opportunity here... (Score:4, Funny)
With a bald pate, you'd have a better platform to mount a black silicon solar cap to power your wireless cranial Internet connection. C'mon, geeks, see the possibilites here! When life hands you shit, make shit sandwiches!
The real question is... (Score:2)
... Braincap or Braincop?
Shit sandwiches? (Score:2, Funny)
Ummm, and how is a shit sandwich better than shit? Are you perhaps running for government (after all, they often seem to "resolve" shitty situations by creating different forms of shitty situations).
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"With a bald pate, you'd have a better platform to mount a black silicon solar cap to power your wireless cranial Internet connection. C'mon, geeks, see the possibilites here! When life hands you shit, make shit sandwiches!"
Such a cap would be incompatible with my tinfoil hat.
As for the sandwich thing, it goes:
"Life is a shit sandwich. The more bread you have the less shit you gotta taste."
1 in 7 at risk? (Score:4, Interesting)
My understanding (and my observation, for that matter) is that roughly 50% of men end up going bald. So how is it news that 1 in 7 men have both of these traits?
BTW, here's a bonus hint to help you find those young guys that are already going bald - look for baseball caps being worn backward. Although a completely shaved head (on a white guy, anyway) is a dead giveaway as well, and gaining in popularity as an alternative to the baseball cap.
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My understanding (and my observation, for that matter) is that roughly 50% of men end up going bald.
I think that depends on what you mean by "going bald". Maybe that many men have some baldness, but for of them it seems to stop at a certain point. 1 in 7 for Jean-Luc Picard bald seems about right.
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The deal is this:
1 in 7 males will start having significant hair loss in late teens/early twenties. 3 out 7 males will *eventually* go bald (either early or eventually assuming they make it to their 50's/60's.)
The point of this article is that
a) if you've got the baldness gene on the X chromosone, you're one of the 3 out 7 guys.
b) if you *also* have the 2 variants on chromosone 20 then you're in the 1 out 7 guys who's going to lose his early and severely.
c) if you don't have the baldness gene on the X chrom
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BTW, here's a bonus hint to help you find those young guys that are already going bald - look for baseball caps being worn backward.
Lol... what?
[Citation Needed]
Millions of people wear backwards baseball hats for their own stupid reasons.
There's even a company [miboycaps.com] that has popped up which sells brimless baseball caps.
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There's even a company [miboycaps.com] that has popped up which sells brimless baseball caps.
To quote a French teacher of mine, "you can call it bathroom tissue all you'd like, but it's still toilet paper [wikipedia.org]."
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Your two dead giveaways fail in the area I live in. There are a lot of backwards baseball caps worn by young guys, and more than a few shaved heads, even on white guys. I shaved my head last winter so that I could wear a stocking cap and not have to deal with not being presentable after I took it off. Trying to decide on if a person is balding based on a style choice seems a little bit of a stretch.
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Agreed. My father and I have extremely thick, curly hair. It would be perfect for a girl but for the both of us it's torture. My father is pushing 60 and has a full head of hair. Safe to say neither of us are going bald.
Anyway I also always wanted long "rock star" hair since I was a kid. For 10 years I had really long, thick curly hair that I spent 2 years growing in high school. I resisted cutting or changing it well into adult hood because the memories of goofy hair cuts while waiting for it to grow long
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Although a completely shaved head (on a white guy, anyway) is a dead giveaway as well, and gaining in popularity as an alternative to the baseball cap.
I can't understand why you would pick on that? It's a perfectly reasonable choice, not the result of over-played vanity.
There's only two options for guys who are going bald: some hair or no hair. And since 'some hair' tends to result in a comedy hairstyle which is unattractive to look at, and no hair is both distinguished and masculine, who the fuck wouldn't choose to do the latter?
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The one in seven is over the entire human race... Quite a few populations have less hair loss than caucasian males, for one.
The actual number is much lower than that... (Score:3, Interesting)
It's actually closer to 27% or so for "premature" baldness... that is, guys who aren't 60 years old with thinning hair. Not that it's definitive, but here's the Wiki page on the topic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldness [wikipedia.org]
First paragraph gives you the numbers.
Baldness is often cited in psych studies as one of those weird cultural perception items that people accept as very normal but which is actually more uncommon than you think.
Next time your in a public environment look around and do a count of the 20-50
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
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About 20 years ago, I could see that I was going to go bald like my dad did, and I decided to just live with it. No drugs, plugs, or rugs.
-jcr
That really is the only dignified way to go. Nothing spells out the word pathetic as clearly as trying to conceal your baldness with a toupee or a comb over.
I cut mine real short (and sometimes dye it white) (Score:2)
Works for me, and it's a real cheap haircut.
The Captain Picard look (Score:2)
That's what I'm going for....
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Good point and one a lot of balding guys fail to realize. If you don't look good or can't pick up girls bald more than likely you won't be able to with hair either. 'Sexy' has nothing to do with the hair on your head.
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I agree! My dad was one of the 1:7 who was clearly going bald in his late teens, early 20s. I've ended up being one of the 3:7 who have some hair loss at 31, but it's not something you notice when you see me (and I keep my hair fairly short already). I just can never grow the really long hair again that I had when I was in HS and college, which is something I wouldn't
Women are listening (Score:5, Funny)
First they find the monogomy gene and then they find the baldness gene. How much longer before women insist on genetic pre-screening before they put out?
Stop this madness (Score:4, Funny)
we all know what will happen [imdb.com] if we let our scientists focus on hair-loss
Better things to worry about (Score:2, Funny)
Can we finally put all the conmen out of business? (Score:2)
All those cures for baldness...will we finally be rid of their purveyors? Good riddance to bad rubbish.
as my barber always said (Score:5, Funny)
RE: baldness (Score:2, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
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This discussion reminds me of a bald friend of mine.
He used to get all the weirdo baldness "Cures" around when he was younger(Mostly in jest).
The funniest one he got, was a sink plunger/unblocker, with a tube of ointment. He was supposed to rub the cream in then use the plunger on his head to pull the hair up......
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Two things. Firstly, I'll work under the assumption that you are male. Secondly, while most people will agree with your second statement when the others are men, there is a question as to what they will think about bald women.
But you are indeed correct. Baldness for men, while it may be initially discomforting, is perfectly acceptable in our society. It is even perfectly acceptable for a man who discovers he is going bald to shave his head comple
Very Important Research Topic (Score:2)
"So maybe gene therapy will finally have a real purpose."
If you take a look at advertising, sales and profit margins, as well as how fast a drug can go from one prescribed use, through clinical testing to an entirely different use which used to be a side effect, and then on to over-the-counter sales (higher profit margins, due to no insurance discounts), you can only come to one conclusion: the most important pharmaceutical developments are directed towards boners and baldness.
And people say women are vain.
Re:Very Important Research Topic (Score:5, Funny)
Since Captain Picard is bald in the 23rd century it appears this idea went nowhere.
Guys, sometimes its nutrition (Score:2, Interesting)
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Look if you are starting to go bald you had might as well
get used to it because no matter what you
eat or do your hair is as good as gone.
You will not mind being bald anyhow it makes
life much simpler. I have my head shaved to the
skin every month or two. No need for shampoo
conditioner and all that crap just rub a bar
of soap across like the rest of your body
an you are good to go.
Re: Your poem (Score:3, Funny)
Look if you are starting to go bald you had might as well
get used to it because no matter what you
eat or do your hair is as good as gone.
You will not mind being bald anyhow it makes
life much simpler. I have my head shaved to the
skin every month or two. No need for shampoo
conditioner and all that crap just rub a bar
of soap across like the rest of your body
an you are good to go.
I'm trying to figure out your poem. There doesn't appear to be any consistent rhythm, nor do the words for which you chose to end each line rhyme or even come close to rhyming. There's no significant use of metaphor, imagery, and so on. Can you help?
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Wikipedia tells me that "hair is a keratinised protein filament". Thus, if you're significantly cutting back on protein due to eating a vegetarian diet and you're not making up the difference through non-animal protein sources then your hair will likely suffer. However, I would wager that you would need to be predisposed to baldness and the lack of protein exacerbates the symptoms rather than causes them.
Work only partially complete! (Score:4, Funny)
They need to find the genes that cause bald men to spend hundreds or even thousands on a toupee that looks like a dyed dead rat while insisting that it looks real and that people can't tell.
Cramer Effect Soon to be Discovered? (Score:2)
Not Bald (Score:2)
Why we go bald (Score:5, Funny)
It's nature's way of telling a man to hurry up and settle down with a woman instead of being a playboy all his life. If you're still acting the playboy while your hairline is receding, the pressure's on to find a mate that you want to raise kids with. Hence, the baldness gene remains in the gene pool. That's my theory anyway.
(No funny mods please, I'm being serious.)
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Modern advertising is what made baldness "bad". It didn't used to matter much. Thus, your "reminder" theory is suspect.
While it's great to accept how you look... (Score:4, Insightful)
what's wrong with being able to have more control over it? A lot of people here have made the case that we should concentrate on accepting baldness instead of changing it. But is that so different than accepting beards instead of developing a shaver?
Whether it's a matter of personal taste, societal standards, or inherent genetic cues - where is the downside to people having more control over how they appear visually to themselves and others?
Yes, it's possible to go too far with this as it is with anything. Spending $300,000.00 on an outfit instead of just dressing nicely, devoting your life to the gym, or jumping into not-ready-for-prime-time plastic surgery techniques (ex: Micheal Jackson). But just because you *can* go overboard with something, doesn't mean that's your only choice.
Frankly, where technology sits right now I think we'd be better off having stayed with powdered wigs for the time being. You get any hair style you want, and everyone does it so there's no out-cast factor. But we should be working towards having the level of genetic control over our hair that people want. Both in terms on more on our heads, and less pretty much everywhere else. There's a reason that the classic Greek statues bore zero resemblance hair-wise to either Dr. Katz or that fat guy from the Borat movie.
Re:cool (Score:5, Funny)
Mom?
Obligatory: (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Why on earth,,, (Score:5, Funny)
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Don't forget your hat.
Re:Why on earth,,, (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course, I'd argue that you're never sure where science is going to go, so pursuing different avenues is important, even if it seems a little less useful or even vain. In this case, I could foresee a situation where finding a solution to a rather simple problem, baldness, could help develop methods that would eventually be useful for dealing with cancer and Alzheimer's, which I can only imagine would be more complex to deal with. Also, you can't forget that its not like the entire community focuses on one topic at a time. Parallel research in separate but related areas tend to feedback off of each other; having too many people working on the same thing can at times only slow it down, since so much time is wasted either reinventing the wheel multiple times, or trying to keep things organized.
Re:Why on earth,,, (Score:5, Insightful)
So having isolated out an important gene, and hopefully setting up a test for it, the next bit of research can be into finding out what else it is associated with. Should all vice-presidents be expected to carry it?
On the other hand, the baldest guy I know (for his age) is mild mannered, intelligent, strong in opinions but polite, and great to work with. So all this testosterone theorizing may be so much crap. It may be associated with testosterone tolerance. Now that is worth researching.
Re:Why on earth,,, (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Why on earth,,, (Score:5, Interesting)
Also balding and testosterone levels are linked so this research could also effect that which has a greater impact on men's health so while it's very possible this came about out of shallowness in men the end result could mean much more.
Re:Why on earth,,, (Score:4, Interesting)
As a man "cursed" with male pattern baldness, I'll say here that going bald had a significant effect on my social standing, but not in the way you'd expect. Before, I had a thick mop of hair that would never comb right. After I started balding, I started shaving my head every morning. The general consensus among my acquaintances is that I look better now than I did before I was balding. It helps tremendously, of course, that Smallville is as popular a TV show as it is these days.
Men, do not fear the razor. The Gillete Mach 3 is your friend.
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being bald puts you at a higher risk of skin cancer.
So does being white-skinned btw :)
Re:Why on earth,,, (Score:4, Insightful)
How can it be shallow if (as most people would agree) a woman going bald is much more traumatic? Nobody tells her to "just get over it".
Either sexism is OK, or the things that people call "shallow" really aren't. You can't have it both ways.
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Just because I doubt other people will be afraid/unwilling to present the "shallow" point of view: What's wrong with wanting to look attractive? It's easy to condemn people for being superficial when you're looking pretty good, but not everyone is so lucky.
Forgetting the health ramifications, just try getting a job when you've lost some of your front teeth. Try going on a date after losing an ear in an accident. There are people who have skin conditions, body odors, and various other problems that you c
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Actually, Viagra was developed as a result of heart research. Ever notice that the ads say "don't take Viagra if you're taking nitrates for blood pressure?"
Now, it's definitely being used for sex, not cardiac therapy, but the development was for much more noble aims. Further, money (profit) earned by sales of Viagra helps to fund future research into other drugs.
As you say, investors would be foolish not to take advantage of the market for sex; the benefit goes beyond shareholders' pocketbooks, though.
Re:Why on earth,,, (Score:4, Insightful)
Can't they focus the research on something more important than baldness?
Because it's not a simple matter of reaching a certain quantity of "man-months" applied to (for example) cure cancer. Our level of technological advancement simply isn't to the point where a Mongol Hordes approach is going to be effective. In most cases, we don't even know what we need to learn before we figure out which way to look for a cure for (x). Who knows, perhaps a technique for combating baldness may hold the key to curing diabetes.
The classic answer to all this is, "it takes 9 months to make a baby no matter how many women you assign to the task"
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You are probably trolling, but I'll bite.
Of course baldness is a disease. A minor one at first sight, but it can lower people's self-esteem and cause severe psychological diseases, such as depression.
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You are probably trolling, but I'll bite.
Of course baldness is a disease. A minor one at first sight, but it can lower people's self-esteem and cause severe psychological diseases, such as depression.
Depression is not caused by baldness.
Especially in this day and age in which baldness (embraced baldness, not spooge-combover) is becoming associated in popular culture with power.
As someone with depression, i'll tell you that minor physical imperfections do not cause or contribute to this problem.
Depression is an emotional reaction to sweeping, systemic problems in our society.
Andromeda had it right: depression is a signal to a person to abandon a futile task. If, however, society as a whole represents fu
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I didn't take such a shortcut. Depression can be caused by lack of self-esteem. Of course some people with baldness can even take advantage of it, but as far as I know, a lot of bald people would rather have hair on their head (ask dermatologists who implant hair â" a very lucrative business â" or the low-cost alternative, wig makers).
AFAIK and IANAP (I Am Not A Psychologist), self-esteem problems are not related to objective standard AND are a source of depression.
Sorry if my original post took t
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Depression is not caused by baldness.
As someone with depression, i'll tell you that minor physical imperfections do not cause or contribute to this problem.
They don't cause it, but can definitely contribute to it. Just because your depression is not aggravated by perceived unattractiveness does not mean that no one else's depression is either. It's a significant factor for some.
Depression is an emotional reaction to sweeping, systemic problems in our society.
Andromeda had it right: depression is a signal to a person to abandon a futile task. If, however, society as a whole represents futility, there's no alternative course of action, and you have to get your SOMA to make it go away.
This is clearly not right. You perceive your depression as being caused by an ongoing existential crisis, but that cannot be the true cause. If depression were the inevitable result of recognizing the futility of life, then many of us would be perpetually depressed. Many others
Re:Is baldness a disease? (Score:5, Insightful)
As someone with depression, i'll tell you that minor physical imperfections do not cause or contribute to this problem.
Depression is an emotional reaction to sweeping, systemic problems in our society.
Have you also been diagnosed with egotism?
You've literally written off the entire spectrum of depressions in favor of your own limited definition.
Does losing a spouse/pet/job qualify as "an emotional reaction to sweeping, systemic problems in our society"? Because people get clinically depressed for those and millions of other much more trivial reasons. I could list another 50 examples, but I'm not sure it would change your self-centered world view.
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Baldness might not contribute to depression but it sure feels like shit.
chronic pain feels like shit, baldness feels a bit drafty : P
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baldness does contribute to depression - ask any baldie, or old man. (as thinning hair is associated with disappearing youth and all that entails in today's society) but they usually get used to it, and then they're fine.
Patrick Stewart (famously) said that he went bald early on, and hated it, really had a hard time accepting it. He said that no-one should become depressed by it, just accept it and get on with life and he wishes he hadn't spent so much time worrying over it. I guess its easy to say that in
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One is a minor inconvenience, the other is a debilitating condition which can bring peoples' lives to a grinding halt in the same way full body burn injuries or systemic cancer can.
Exactly like self-esteem problems. My point.
It has _nothing_ to do with 'being bummed when you're occasionally reminded you have no hair'.
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Not quite... (Score:2)
Not many people change color with age.
Those that do are real weirdos - look at MJ.
Being gay is a bit closer. Some people just don't care but for most there's a phase of acceptance and some spend their whole lives fighting it (and making themselves very unhappy in the process).
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Not many people change color with age.
Those that do are real weirdos - look at MJ.
For those who may not realize it I will point out that this is a Flame. Yes you are correct that people who are on the periphery of a bell curve could be classified as "real weirdos". It's unfortunate but the only real method that I'm aware of to treat Vitiligo [wikipedia.org] is with shoe polish. And yes you are also correct in stating that "Not many people change color with age."; it's only about 1 to 2 percent of the population. In hindsight it's not too surprising that Michael Jackson often wore gloves because the symp
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Of course baldness is a disease.
You sound like a doctor; quick to label. The "of course" part is presumptuous of course. People must first admit that the concept of disease is a social meme. Understanding the problem can often negate the need for a cure.
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Also being too short, tall, fat, thin, big feet - all illnesses which should be treated.
Gene therapy in the future will let everybody look like Brad and Angelina. Won't it be fantastic!
Re:Is baldness a disease? (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course baldness is a disease. A minor one at first sight, but it can lower people's self-esteem and cause severe psychological diseases, such as depression.
Not true. It does increase my self-esteem, knowing that my baldness is due to high testosterone. And I believe that bald people are more active in sex than others. Anyone losing their self-esteem due to baldness, just realize that you are more 'male' than non-bald others and cheer up.
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I don't think he was a troll; I thought it was a very interesting point. And I think that "lower self esteem" can unfortunately be correlated with skin color and sexuality as well, so your argument doesn't hold up. Just because society looks down on something doesn't make it a disease.
Really, why do you say baldness a disease? It's just a change in the body's self regulation over time. Balding does not apparently have a significant negative effect from an evolutionary standpoint or it wouldn't be so com
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one day it'll probably happen, and we'll have albinos walking the streets, along with bright orange and purple people... then 'pinko commie' will really mean something.
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If it's not, then it's awfully discriminatory to try to 'fix' it. Isn't there a genetic cause for black skin too? How bad would the summary be if we replaced "male pattern baldness" with "black skin" or "homosexuality"? Why is it ok for baldness?
Maybe "fix" is too strong a word, but I wouldn't mind being able to change the color of my skin on a whim and I might even go gay and get a chest-wax if it would be enough to motivate me to go the gym more. With my luck, I would probably just end up a bear though, which wouldn't really improve the situation.
Re:Is baldness a disease? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Because of the role these features have played historically. Nobody has tried to enslave people based on the amount of hair they do or do not grow. (There are no major religions around which think being bald is an affront to god's will either.) If there'd been something like that in US history, then talking about "healing it" would also be a touchy issue. If we had a generally relaxed attitude to skin colour - the way we do about hair colour - then someone bleaching their skin wo
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Obviously you didn't grow up a red head!
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It's OK for baldness because everything else you mentioned is on the table too. Should we stop looking for genes that affect how we look and act? Get rid of the genome projects altogether? There might be a gene for black skin or white skin that's found at some point, and I guarantee that there will be a time when somebody will want to find a way to change their skin color genetically; people are already doing it chemically (spray tan) and mechanically (tanning booth). Some people just aren't happy with the
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Plenty of tang - if you have a large bulge in your pants.
It is far better if the bulge is made by a fat wallet, btw.
Re:1,125 Caucasian Men Studied.... (Score:4, Funny)
+1 Appropriate sig.
oink (Score:2)
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