Merino Sheep Provide Clue to Curly Hair

The cells on one side of each wool fiber are longer than the cells on the other, researchers find.

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

ISTOCK, JOHNCARNEMOLLAHairs curl because the cells on one side of the strand are longer than the cells on the other, at least in merino sheep, according to a study published today (March 23) in the Journal of Experimental Biology. The findings don’t fit neatly into either of the two leading theories for how curliness arises—namely, that there are more cells on one side than another, or that the two main cell types making up hair differ consistently in length and are distributed unevenly.

“We went in to test those two theories because as it turns out no-one has been able to directly measure them before,” study coauthor Duane Harland of agricultural research institute AgResearch in New Zealand tells ABC News. He adds that “it was very fiddly because the pieces of wool you’re dealing with are incredibly small.”

To analyze the fibers, Harland and his colleagues teamed up with a Japanese cosmetic company, Kao Corporation. After cleaning and separating hundreds of tiny cuttings of merino sheep wool, the researchers measured the curvature of each fiber, and then observed the wool under a microscope.

They found that although the two cell types, known as orthocortical and paracortical cells, did indeed differ in length on average, there was a wide ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Catherine Offord

    Catherine is a science journalist based in Barcelona.
Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Photo of a researcher overseeing large scale production processes in a laboratory.

Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

Thermo Fisher Logo
Collage-style urban graphic of wastewater surveillance and treatment

Putting Pathogens to the Test with Wastewater Surveillance

An illustration of an mRNA molecule in front of a multicolored background.

Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with lipid nanoparticles

Thermo Fisher Logo
Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide