*The earliest documented use of Keratin in medicines comes from a Chinese herbalist named Li-Shi-Zhen. Over 38 years he wrote 800 books known as the Ben Cao Gang Mu. In 1596, three years after his death, His books where published; these books contained 11,000 different prescriptions. Around 1849 during protein research the word "keratin" was discovered in the literature to describe the material that makes up hard tissues such as animal horns and hoofs. Scientists found this new protein intriguing because it did not behave like other proteins because the normal methods for dissolving proteins did not work on kerotines. In 1905, John Hoffmeier described a process for extracting keratins from animal horns using lime which was originally applied to the manufacture of keratin gels. Between 1905-1935 keratin research flourished scientists began extracting keratins from not only hoofs and horns but human hair as well. Among the first inventions where Keratin powders for cosmetics, composites, and coatings for drugs. In 1965 scientist W. Gordon Crewther and his colleagues published the first definitive text on the chemistry of keratins.In 1992, the development and testing of a host of keratin based biomaterials was the subject of a doctoral thesis by a french graduate student. From 1998on Japanese companies, government and academic laboratories continue to look at keratins as a source of economic development in the field of medicine. (History of Keratin Research)
The discovery of Keratin
Keratin 6 Isoform was discovered and explains the absence of hair and nail defects in mice. (The Rockefeller University Press)