X-Ray Studies of the Structure of Hair, Wool, and Related Fibers. II. - The Molecular Structure and Elastic Properties of Hair Keratin

    January 1934 in “ Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Containing Papers of a Biological Character ”
    W. T. ASTBURY, H. J. Woods
    TLDR Stretched hair has a similar structure to natural silk, showing hair's elasticity involves reversible changes within its molecules.
    The study examines the molecular structure and elastic properties of hair keratin through X-ray analysis of mammalian hairs and related fibers. It concludes that the X-ray fiber photograph of stretched hair (β-keratin) is similar to that of natural silk, indicating that stretched hair (α-keratin) consists of the same chains in a folded state. This suggests that the elastic mechanism of hair involves a reversible intra-molecular transformation.
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