Does baldness come from your Mother's side of the Family?

[Sark79]

I can't remember if it was on Blonde that I discussed this topic or not. I know I have talked about this before, but I forget when or where. Images of Circus performers come to mind, but I am not sure if that is connected to baldness or it is just thoughts invading my mind because I am strange

Anyway, I wondered if baldness is passed down from a person Mother's or Fathers side of the Family?

An old Lady made a comment about the crown area of my head today. She said it looked like it was thinning  .  I have always been smug because my Father has thick hair and is in his late 60's.  I was always convinced that I was onto a winner as far as hair thickness was concerned, but now I am sightly unsure.  My Mother is no longer around to ask, but judging by Family photography's viewed today almost all my Mother's side of the Family (males) are bald. I didn't really know any of them, but the pic of my Grandad was the most shocking. He was completely bald at about 30 years old. 

I checked in the mirror and sure enough the hair is thinner than the other areas of my head. The old Lady wasn't telling lies. Yesterday I had a haircut and at the time thought the barber was spending an unusual period of time focused on the back of my head. He is an old fella and tends to drift off and lose track of what he is doing.  I am putting my thinning down to him overcutting part of my hair and have resisted the temptation to buy any herbal remedies just yet.  I also checked in my Dad's loft for a whig, but have only found a silver shiny whig which would look silly if I wore it because my jacket is brown and wouldn't match it.

So is baldness passed down from your Mother's side of the family?

[matt674]

Yes, the "baldness" gene is only present on the x-Chromosome and therefore you can only get it from your mother.

[The Baron]

My degree level biochemist friend says yes it is the mother's side of the family.

He knows more then me so I agree with him.

[Rod Paradise]

My baldness comes from a mach 3 razor. 

My kid brother is seriously thinning, but my Mum's side of the family haven't much history of baldness.

[Jon MW]

...  I also checked in my Dad's loft for a whig...

If you weren't fussed about which particular whig I'd recommend  Charles James Fox - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_James_Fox - 

[Sark79]

...  I also checked in my Dad's loft for a whig...

If you weren't fussed about which particular whig I'd recommend  Charles James Fox - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_James_Fox - 

lol.  My friend says his Dad has a Rod Stewart whig, so I may borrow that in a couple of years

[matt674]

If a man has the baldness gene he will automatically pass it on to all his female offspring. Because the fathers chromosome determines the sex of the offspring - if he gives an x-chromosome then the offspring will be female, if he gives a y-chromosome then the offspring will be male.

As the baldness gene is only found on the x-chromosome then if the offspring is male then it must come from his mother who provided him with the x-chromosome in his XY combination and as the x-chromosome is more dominant than the y-chromosome then the male pattern baldness will show through in men.

However as women have two X-chromosomes usually the gene for baldness is the submissive one which means that it is usually a very rare sight to see a woman going bald.

Sorry its been a while since i did this at uni - trying to explain it as simple as possible but failing miserably. Thats what happens when they only let you do one year of a four year course!!  

[Sark79]

Matt , you could be the new Robert Winston   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Winston 

What course did you do mate? 

[charmaine]

If a man has the baldness gene he will automatically pass it on to all his female offspring. Because the fathers chromosome determines the sex of the offspring - if he gives an x-chromosome then the offspring will be female, if he gives a y-chromosome then the offspring will be male.

As the baldness gene is only found on the x-chromosome then if the offspring is male then it must come from his mother who provided him with the x-chromosome in his XY combination and as the x-chromosome is more dominant than the y-chromosome then the male pattern baldness will show through in men.

However as women have two X-chromosomes usually the gene for baldness is the submissive one which means that it is usually a very rare sight to see a woman going bald.

Sorry its been a while since i did this at uni - trying to explain it as simple as possible but failing miserably. Thats what happens when they only let you do one year of a four year course!!  

I'm impressed 

[M3boy]

OK Debate time................

Yes I agree it is the male chromosome that determines the sex of the child, BUT it is the egg that decides WHICH sperm it lets in, so isnt it the womans egg that determines the sex?!?

That was my understanding - probably wrong but I have had many heated debates on this subject and have yet to be convinced otherwise.

[matt674]

Matt , you could be the new Robert Winston   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Winston 

What course did you do mate? 

Nooo, i have much more hair than he does!! 

I studied Advanced Biological Science at Manchester Metropolitan (the year after it went from being Manchester Polytechnic to being a University - much more impressive on a CV!) wanted to move on further to specialize in Genetics and Forensics but unfortunately had to leave after the first year as i could not afford to stay and pay for the course and did not want to burden myself with a £10k+ student loan to complete year 2.

I'm impressed 

Woohoo - a first for everything, most women just fall asleep if i talk about what i did at Uni!! (well from a coursework prospective anyway!)

[matt674]

OK Debate time................

Yes I agree it is the male chromosome that determines the sex of the child, BUT it is the egg that decides WHICH sperm it lets in, so isnt it the womans egg that determines the sex?!?

That was my understanding - probably wrong but I have had many heated debates on this subject and have yet to be convinced otherwise.

No because the womans egg provides the offspring with an X-Chromosome regardless because the woman's genetic makeup is XX - The man's genetic makeup is XY and therefore the sperm will either provide the egg with a X-chromosome resulting in a female offspring or a Y-chromosome resulting in a male offsring.

(the egg doesnt know until well after it has been fertilized! )

[Acidmouse]

Being bald is in fashion or I do hope so when i eventually get there. Mine has been receding very slowly since 16

[M3boy]

OK Debate time................

Yes I agree it is the male chromosome that determines the sex of the child, BUT it is the egg that decides WHICH sperm it lets in, so isnt it the womans egg that determines the sex?!?

That was my understanding - probably wrong but I have had many heated debates on this subject and have yet to be convinced otherwise.

No because the womans egg provides the offspring with an X-Chromosome regardless because the woman's genetic makeup is XX - The man's genetic makeup is XY and therefore the sperm will either provide the egg with a X-chromosome resulting in a female offspring or a Y-chromosome resulting in a male offsring.

(the egg doesnt know until well after it has been fertilized! )

But its still the egg that decides which sperm gets in isnt it?!? Or is a sperm both x and y ?!? Can you tell i didnt study Biology that hard at school?!?

[Sark79]

My Barber is an amateur gardening champion. At the back of his shop he has tubs of liquid type sludge which he claims help his plants grow quickly.  It is my theory he cuts customers hair overly short in particular areas of their heads in an attempt to make them think they are going bald.  He was reaching for one of these tubs of sludge the other day and I am sure he was going to offer to sell me some of this miracle grow for my hair.  Sadly the phone ran and he was distracted. Next time I go, I will take him up on his offer