Rahul Biswas and Kartik Sehgal propose stopping the use of synthetic hair dyes by restoring enzymes in the body that are degraded by oxidative stress and prevent hair from graying. They aim to genetically manipulate pathways like BMP-4 and increase production of enzymes like tyrosinase, MSR-A, MSR-B and catalase to protect melanocytes from stress and prevent graying, without using synthetic dyes or chemicals. If successful, this could provide a unique treatment for gray hair through diet and genetic changes rather than commercial products.

1. GRAY HAIRS: STAYING BLACK
WITHOUT DYES
Rahul Biswas, Kartik Sehgal
(B.Tech Biotechnology, Graphic Era University)
(B.Tech Biotechnology, Graphic Era University)

2. ABSTRACT
• These days everyone is troubled by falling hair and their hair going gray at
some age group or the other. Most of the people are trapped in the
gimmicks of hair clinics without knowing what they exactly do to restore
the hair loss. Here is a poster to make you aware about the exact
mechanism taking place in the scalp that does the trick and makes such
changes, that changes our prestige into trouble. The idea is to restore the
enzymes that get degraded due to the oxidative stress and the enzyme
that prevents our skin from going gray. If we can manage to restore these
magical enzymes in the body, then we can definitely stop using the
synthetic dyes.
• Keywords: hair scalp, enzymes, gray hair,scalp,skin,stress.

3. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
• People these days are troubled with their
shiny black hair turning gray.
• To prevent this, they resort to using synthetic
dyes and hair colors, and are ultimately
trapped in the gimmicks of fake hair clinics.
• People consider the synthetic dyes and hair
colors as a great measure to temporary color
their hair and no one notices the damage
done to the hair by these chemicals.
• There may be many causes that cause graying
of hair, both internal and external.

4. CAUSES OF HAIR GRAYING:INTERNAL
• Degradation of melanin-producing melanocytes in hair follicle.
• Accumulation of Hydrogen peroxide in hair follicle in significant
amounts.
• Vitamin B-12 deficiency or problems in pituitary
or thyroid gland
• Lipid Peroxidation
• Hereditary factors.
• Chronic health ailments

5. INTERNAL FACTORS
• Depletion of key enzymes like catalase, MSR-A,
MSR-B(methionine sulfoxide reductase) that are responsible for
breakdown of hydrogen peroxide and stabilization of free
radicals.
• Blockage of melanin producing enzyme, tyrosinase by the
action of oxidative stress(hydrogen peroxide), or some mutation.
• Changes(inactivation or over-expression) in “wnt” gene
pathways such as mutation, or stress inactivation.

6. EXTERNAL FACTORS
• Poor diet planning.
• Use of commercial shampoos.
• Use of commercial scented hair oils.
• Use of commercial hair colours / dyes.
• Smoke genotoxicants
• Pollutants
• Prolonged exposure to UV-A or UV-B.
• Mental stress and prolonged pressure

7. ROLE OF HAIR GROWTH CYCLE
• The telogen stage indicates a temporary stop in
the activity of melanocytes, and the activation
is caused by Shh signalling pathways.
• BMP-4(bone morphological protein) is a major inhibitor of the
Shh(Sonic hedgehog) pathway, but another protein known as
noggin blocks the BMP-4, hence allowing a smooth hair growth.
• Hence, any external or internal factor or a genetic mutation which
is capable of inhibiting the noggin protein can cause graying of
hair, and also stop hair growth.

8. ADVANCES IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF
HAIR GRAYING
• The scientists working at the hair color company, L'Oreal, are using
an enzyme, TRP-2 to develop a pill that could, according to them,
convert gray hair into black.
• Naito et al. have found that lipid peroxides(linolein
hydroperoxide) can induce the production of free radicals, that can
cause apoptosis in hair follicle cells, as well as epidermal
keratinocytes and melanocytes.
• It has also been found that apoptosis of hair follicle cells leads to
early onset of catagen phase.
• Harman et al. first proposed this 'free radical theory of aging‘ in
1956. This theory was given in relation to aging of hair, and hence
graying.

9. ADVANCES IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF
HAIR GRAYING
• Wood et al. have demonstrated for the first
time that human white scalp hair shafts
accumulate hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in
millimolar concentrations, and almost absent
catalase and methionine sulfoxide reductase
(MSR) protein expression in association with
functional loss of methionine sulfoxide repair
in the entire gray hair follicle.
• Scientists at Kanazawa University(Japan) are
leading a study that states that genotoxic
stress is responsible for DNA damage in the
hair, that also causes hair greying.
• Mosley and Gibbs were the first to indicate
a relationship between smoking and graying
of hair .

10. COMMON METHODS USED FOR
TURNING GRAY HAIR INTO BLACK HAIR
• Use of hair colorants / dyes.
• Use of commercial shampoos and hair-coloring gels.
• Consumption of supplements recommended by fake clinics.

11. HAIR DYE INDUSTRY- BUSINNESS
REVIEW
• The world hair care products industry witnessed 3% expansion in 2010,
generating revenue of almost $49 billion and volume sales of more than 15
billion units, according to MarketLine.
• In the year 2003, the consolidated sales of L'Oreal was €14.029 billion and
net profit was €1.653 billion.
• The market is expected to reach almost $58 billion in 2015, representing 18%
expansion over a five-year period. The market should hit a volume of almost
18 billion units in 2015 for a 19% growth rate.
• The entire worldwide cosmetic industry, sales reach about $170 billion a
year, out of which the contribution of hair care industry is about 20%($34
billion). It’s distributed pretty uniformly around the world with ~$40 billion
in the Americas, ~$60 billion in Europe, ~$60 billion in Australia & Asia, and
another $10 billion in Africa.

12. OUR AIM AND HYPOTHESIS
• Manipulation of pathways like BMP-4 such that it doesn't activate
to cause graying.
• Using genetic manipulations to increase the production of
enzymes such as tyrosinase, MSR-A, MSR-B, Catalase.
• Genetic manipulations in the codon of TRP-2, so that it protects
melanocytes inside the hair as well.
• Formation of a mixed compound that is a mixture of enzymes like
catalase, MSR-A & MSR-B, tyrosinase and TRP-2.

13. IMPACT OF THIS PROJECT
• Unique treatment for gray hair.
• No synthetic dye or color to be used.
• Better understanding of aging processes.
• Consumption of diet rich in anti-oxidants.
• Awareness among people about ill effects of hair colors, gels,
scented oils and mental stress.
• Better understanding of implications of pollution.

14. REFERENCES
• NCBI article by Ralph M Trüeb
• NCBI: Studied on free radicals, anti-oxidants and co-factors by
Khalid Rahman
• https://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/study-finds-cure-gray-hair-8212-finally-133700194.html
• http://www.webmd.com/beauty/hair-nails/abcs-premature-graying
• http://news.sciencemag.org/2009/06/gray-hair-signals-battered-dna
• The FASEB Journal • FJ Express Full-Length Article
Towards a “free radical theory of graying”: melanocyte apoptosis in the aging human hair follicle
is an indicator of oxidative stress induced tissue damage by Petra Clara Arck,†,1 Rupert Overall,*,1
Katharina Spatz,* Christiane Liezman,*
Bori Handjiski,† Burghard F. Klapp,‡ Mark A. Birch-Machin,§ and
Eva Milena Johanne Peters*1,2
• *Cutaneous Neuroimmunology, Biomedical Research Center, University Medicine Charite´, Virchow
and Mitte Campus; †Psychoneuroimmunology, Biomedical Research Center, University Medicine
Charite´, Virchow Campus; and ‡Internal Medicine, Psychosomatics, University Medicine Charite´,
Mitte Campus, Humboldt-University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany; and §Dermatology, Medical School,
University of Newcastle, UK
• BIOLOGY OF AGING by National institute of aging, National Institute of Health, U.S department of
Health and Human Services.