# Where does baldness come from?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-baldness-come-from/76893>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 18, 2001, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-baldness-come-from/76893 "2001-08-18T14:10:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Aceospades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Aceospades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aceospades)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-baldness-come-from/76893/1 "2001-08-18T14:10:38Z")

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My friend tells me that if I go bald, I can blame my mothers father because that is where the genes come from that cause baldness. Is this true? Do we even know where baldness comes from (in regards to ancestry)?

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-baldness-come-from/76893/2 "2001-08-18T14:20:48Z")

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Yes, male pattern baldness is generally x-linked, and therefore inherited thru the maternal line. here’s a link

[http://www.healthcentral.com/mhc/top/001177.cfm](http://www.healthcentral.com/mhc/top/001177.cfm)

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-baldness-come-from/76893/3 "2001-08-18T15:13:36Z")

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I don’t like to disagree with the doc, but I thought I read that the X-chromosome link had been debunked. In most genetic diseases where the males are affected much more often than females are, you can usually blame a recessive genes on the X-chromosome. This is the case with hemophilia.

But isn’t also possible to blame a dominant gene on the Y-chromosome? Or another possibility, which [this site](http://www.wncc.net/dnash/genetics/sexlink.htm) treats as fact, is that male pattern baldness is caused by a dominant gene on an autosomal chromosome, but moderated by androgens.

bb no baldness in either males or females  
Bb baldness in males, but not in females  
BB baldness in males, thinning hair in females

Actually, I hope I’m wrong and you’re right, because my father was bald, but nobody on my mother’s side of the family is.

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-baldness-come-from/76893/4 "2001-08-18T15:59:53Z")

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Well, IIRC it’s not strict mendelian genetics, rather it’s multi-factorial, _but_ with a strong modifier which is x-linked. That is, there are 4 or 5 different hereditary factors at play, and a number of physiologic ones, all not well understood yet. But there is an association with the X chromosome, just not strong enough to say XY=hair, xY=Bald.

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**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-baldness-come-from/76893/5 "2001-08-18T17:19:19Z")

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Baldness comes from a lack of hair.

Just thought I’d cut to the chase here.

_grin_