What's Your Opinion: A Pill to go Curl-Free?

First of all, happy 2010 everyone! I hope you all had a safe and fun transition into the new year.

You may have caught wind of this from other blogs and sites but after seeing it again on Essence.com, I really wanted to post it anyway and get your take.

Apparently, a group of Australian scientists are working on creating a pill that will alter the gene for curly hair, resulting in straight hair that grows from the scalp. In other words, if this works, there will be an actual oral "treatment" for coily haired folks and straight locks will be available to anyone who can afford the drug. Apparently, not only could you go straight but the discovery of this gene means there could potentially be a pill to make straight hair curly or wavy as well.

Researchers at Australia's Queensland Institute of Medical Research said they have discovered the gene responsible for dictating the curliness of hair.

Researcher Professor Nick Martin said his team discovered variations in the trichohyalin gene, which was previously known to have a role in the development of hair follicles, are responsible for the curliness or straightness of hair, the Melbourne Herald-Sun reported Tuesday.

Martin said the discovery could have major implications for hair treatments.

"Potentially we can now develop new treatments to make hair curlier or straighter, rather than treating the hair directly," he said. "I will be discussing this with a major cosmetic company in Paris in January." Excerpt from here

Wow. Of course I have issues with this. In fact, I have many issues with this. For starters, who is to say that this pill would be safe to ingest? It would be so new that I am sure crazy side effects would occur. Also, while I am not in favor of relaxers, texturizers, or other chemical services that permanently alter one's texture, it seems like altering genes is just taking it to a whole to level. I mean, what happens when suddenly there is a pill that alters melanin or eye color? Is this just one more step towards "racial engineering" as one commenter said on Essence? With women already paying thousands of dollars for weaves, I can't imagine what lengths some people might go to for this pill.

In this era of globalization, my fear is not that people want the option to change up their looks. I am more afraid that people (specifically those who do not fall in the majority group) will begin to strive toward one look and one look only. I fear that people of different ethnicities and backgrounds are beginning to want to achieve the physical appearance of the dominant culture and I hate to think what people would be willing to do to achieve that.

Working in a middle school where low self-esteem runs rampant, I see young people everyday who struggle with accepting themselves and are willing to do almost anything to fit in. It's bad enough that many young women are being given breast implants or nose jobs as graduation presents!

Do I think everyone who might want to try this is full of self-hatred or dislikes their race/ethnicity? No! But you can see where this could become problematic, especially for those that do.

So I turn it over to you. What are your feelings about this new prospect? Would taking this pill be any different than relaxing the hair with chemicals or lightening the skin with a cream? Would you consider using something like this? If yes, tell me why. I won't judge and I would only ask that other commenters be respectful if someone's opinion differs from your own.