The widow’s peak of the hairline is defined by a sharp point in the center of the hairline along the forehead.
A straight line follows the upper border of the forehead, without depression or curvature. This is the opposite of the widow’s peak hairline, which usually features a sharp point near the center of the hairline along the forehead. The direct allele is a recessive gene, meaning that those with these strands must have two parents with the same recessive gene to inherit one.
People who are dissatisfied with their hair can undergo hair transplant surgery.
For most people, having a straight hairline compared to a widow’s cusp makes little difference to their lives. Straight locks are generally no more difficult to style than widow’s peak hair, and none of the locks appear to be associated with baldness. The interesting thing about having this scalp is where it came from. Two people with widow’s peaks, or the dominant trait, can still have a child displaying the recessive. This child may also have recessive eye or hair color because these traits sometimes spread in groups.
When evaluating how genetic traits, or alleles, are passed on, scientists often assign them a letter. In this case, the dominant allele, a widow’s peak, is given the letter W. This allele is given a lowercase w because it is the recessive trait of the same gene. Two parents with widow’s peaks must each carry a recessive allele for any of their children to inherit a straight line. For example, two parents with a genetic combination of Ww, who have four children, are likely to have a straight-line child.
The other three children from the above family will likely inherit the WW, Ww, and Ww alleles, respectively. This means that two children have the potential to pass on the straight line gene, while one child does not. Let’s say the child with WW alleles reproduces with someone who has ww alleles. All the children of this couple will have Ww genes, which means that the recessive gene will only appear in their grandchildren.
Although many people carry a combination of two dominant alleles on their scalp, the Ww combination, with one recessive allele, is usually the most common combination. If someone with a hidden straight hair allele breeds with someone who has ww alleles, it is very likely that her children will have straight hair. In fact, if this couple has four children, two of them are likely to have this recessive gene. The other two sons have matching alleles, which means they can pass any type of hair to the next generation.