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What Does You Hair?

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What is hair?
Hair is the fine, threadlike structure growing from the skin of both animals and humans. The primary structure of the hair is known as the shaft and mostly composed of keratin, a fibrous protein (Douglas, 2000). The hair follicle anchors the hair to the skin which forms an enlargement, or hair bulb (WebMD, 2014). Within the hair bulb living cells grow to build the hair shaft. The hair shaft consists of three distinct layers (Hughes, 2013):
• medulla
• cortex
• cuticle
The medulla is the innermost layer with a soft construction, the cortex, the layer which contains the pigment, or color of the hair, and provides the elasticity, and lastly, the cuticle which is the outermost layer with a flaky appearance. The cuticle is hard and protects the cortex and the medulla from damage. More commonly than not, hair is attributed to DNA, however it cannot be found within those three layers mentioned. The hair root is embedded below the scalp and is surrounded in a hair follicle (Hughes, 2013). The hair follicle is linked to the blood stream via the dermal papilla and contains DNA, which can be tested and used as evidence in an investigation.
Each strand of hair possesses a variety of characteristics which include: length, color, shape, root appearance, and microscopic characteristics which can identify its origin on the body. Hair can be found on many different regions of the body which include the head, pubic region, legs, arms, chest, and axillae (armpit), amongst

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