US researchers have combined X-ray diffraction with TEM to detect previously undiscovered features of human hair. Hair was thought to be made from purely alpha keratin, but the latest data reveal a new layer of beta keratin, normally found in the claws and beaks of birds. The breakthrough is set to change the way researchers, and the cosmetics industry, view and explore hair in the future. Human hair structure has been studied extensively for more than 70 years, but a complete picture of its local structure has proven elusive. With this in mind, Vesna Stanic from the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Source turned to the micro-diffraction beamline at the National Synchrotron Lightsource, at Brookhaven National Laboratory, to find out more.
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