Skin cancer study reveals roots of grey hair

Skin cancer researchers have stumbled on a cellular cause for why hair turns grey as we age.

The scientists weren't aiming to prevent greying, but to find treatments for malignant melanoma, a potentially deadly skin cancer.

Researchers in the U.S. saw that hair loses its colour as adult stem cells die off.

The stem cells normally supply new pigmented cells called melanocytes that give hair its hue.

Dr. David Fisher of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and his team found as the body ages, melanocytes sometimes begin to develop in the wrong place in the hair follicle.

The findings, published in Friday's issue of the journal Science, were originally made in strains of prematurely greying mice.

They found two genes that play a key role in the death of the stem cells.

The team then identified the same pattern of cell depletion in older human scalp tissue compared to those from younger people.

Researchers want to study the cellular signals that trigger the death of pigment stem cells.

In melanoma, melanocytes grow uncontrollably into tumours that are difficult to kill or treat.

Fisher said if they can identify a signal that stops melanoma cells from growing then researchers may be able to find a way to prevent or treat melanoma.

"Eventually we hope to tap into this death pathway, thereby using drugs to mimic the aging process, to successfully treat melanoma," Fisher said in a release.