A 1927 study supports a current genetic model for inheritance of human scalp hair-whorl orientation and hand-use preference traits.
The basis of right- vs. left-hand-use preference in humans has been debated for a long time. Culturally learned, birth stress, and biologically specified causes are the prominent etiologies under consideration. A 2003 (Klar 2003) study reported a correlation between a person's preferred hand and the scalp hair-whorl orientation developed on the head. By reinterpreting results of a 1927 (Schwarzburg 1927) study on the genetics of the hair-whorl trait, support for a recent single gene, two-allele "random-recessive model" for both hair-whorl orientation and handedness trait inheritance is demonstrated.
Klar
Amar J S
AJ
Developmental Genetics Section, Gene Regulation and Chromosome Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, USA. klar@ncifcrf.gov
D000483:Alleles; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006197:Hair / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D012535:Scalp / Q000502:physiology*