Tag : Eyebrows

Amsterdam (Netherlands): According to a Letter to the Editor in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, published by Elsevier, the first gene mapping study on eyebrow thickness in Europeans found three previously unreported genetic loci. According to a study by the International Visible Trait Genetics (VisiGen) Consortium, people from different parts of the world have slightly different and slightly identical underlying genes that influence how their eyebrows seem. The appearance of human eyebrows is not just a matter of grooming but is in the genes. Eyebrow thickness, as any other appearance trait, is highly heritable. Thus far, genetic knowledge on eyebrow thickness has been very limited and solely restricted to non-Europeans. This study is the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) on eyebrow thickness in Europeans. By identifying new genes and rediscovering some of the genes previously identified in non-Europeans, the study expands genetic knowledge on human eyebrow variation, which is of broad interest and has implications for dermatology and other fields. Previous studies were performed among Latin American and Chinese individuals, establishing four eyebrow thickness -associated genetic loci. Because no European eyebrow thickness GWAS had been reported, researchers did not know whether the genetic eyebrow thickness effects described in non-Europeans persist in Europeans, or whether there are European-specific genetic loci involved in eyebrow thickness, or both. Lead investigator Prof. Dr. Manfred Kayser, Department of Genetic Identification, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, and co-chair of the VisiGen Consortium responsible for this study, commented, "Despite the immense efforts in mapping genes underlying hu ...