the.com/keratin
The protein that turns dead cells into armor: hair, nails, and rhino horns alike.
means A tough, fibrous structural protein that makes up hair, nails, horns, feathers, and the outer layer of skin.
from From Greek 'keras' meaning 'horn' — the same root behind 'rhinoceros' (nose-horn) and 'ceratops' dinosaur names. A chemist in the 1800s coined 'keratin' to name the horn-like protein, and the '-in' ending simply marks it as a chemical substance, same as in 'protein' or 'insulin.'
- rhino horn
- Basically a lifetime of compacted hair, no bone inside
- hair is dead
- The visible strand has zero living cells
- shared blueprint
- Same protein family builds feathers, claws, and hooves
- treatments lie
- Smoothing products coat keratin, they rarely add any