The results of a genome-wide meta-analysis in Manhattan show the genetic factors of the density of eyebrows.

On September 24th, the international academic journal PLOS Explorer S. Internet published a research paper by the Research Group of the Institute of Computational Biology of the Shanghai Institute of Life Sciences (Institute of Nutrition and Health) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, entitled Genome-wide Association And CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Gene Editing Regulatory Sing Sing Sing Thickness In Humans.
the paper has made a breakthrough in exploring the genetic factors that affect the degree of brow density.
humans have evolved to dissipate sweating more efficiently, removing most of the body's hair while retaining most of the head and facial hair.
head facial hair has produced many different morphological differences in the evolution of human adaptation, and studying the factors that influence these differences will help to further understand the process of adaptive evolution in humans.
However, eyebrows, an important part of facial hair on the head, are still under study.
Wang Sijia's research team conducted the first genome-wide correlation study on the eyebrow concentration of the Han Chinese population in East Asia and the mixed Uighur population, and found that SOX2 and FOXD1 on chromosome 5, chromosome 5, significantly affected eyebrow concentration.
a meta-analysis of data from Latin American populations, the researchers also found that the EDAR gene was also significantly associated with eyebrow concentration.
then, the researchers performed fine-mapping on the three signal regions and further used the Crispr-Cas9 target mutation experiment to perform functional experimental verification, which showed that the rs1345417 bit of the G-and-gt; C mutation causes SOX2 expression to be lowered, rs12651896 site area involved in regulating the expression of FOXD1, and then guessed that these two sites are involved in affecting the density of eyebrows.
previous studies have found that edAR gene is involved in influencing the morphology of a series of exoblastal derivatives, such as hair, teeth and sweat glands, and in this study, the influence of EDAR gene on eyebrow concentration has been verified.
, the researchers also conducted a natural selection analysis of the density of eyebrows.
, unlike conventional conclusions, eyebrow concentration is not subject to a strong positive selection, but does not rule out the possibility of sexual selection.
work reveals the genetic mechanisms that affect the density of eyebrows in humans, and provides new ideas for later expanding the study of hair density.
the work was completed under the joint guidance of researchers Wang Sijia and Zhang Liang, and was jointly completed by Wu Sijie, ph.d. student of the Institute of Computational Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhang Manfei, Ph.D., Fudan University, and Yang Xinzhou, Master of Nutrition Metabolism and Food Safety Key Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Source: Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health.