Science

In laboratories L'Oreal tablets from a grey hair are developed

When news broke this week that L'Oreal was developing a pill to prevent grey hair, it made headlines around the world. But scientists say the pill, which has not yet been created, produces more questions than answers.

Bruno Bernard, head of the Hair Care, Quality and Color team at L'Oreal, first spoke about the cosmetic company's research, telling that the pill will be based on a fruit extract that mimics an enzyme called TRP-2, which isn't present in hair follicles.

TRP-2 helps make pigment-producing cells called melanocytes. In theory, the presence of TRP-2 could prevent hair from going gray.

Scientists at the Ito Lab at New York University's Langone Medical Center are also researching grey hair, and recently identified the proteins responsible for pigment. In June they published a paper in the journal Cell, announcing that a network of proteins called the wnt signaling pathway are responsible for preventing grey hair in mice. When they inhibited the wnt pathway, the hair on the mice turned grey.