Scientists are cultivating human hair cells on mice in order to satisfy the youth-hungry bald.
dNovo, a medical business founded by Ernesto Lujan, has successfully transplanted human hair stem cells onto a mouse, according to MIT Technology Review.
While the design is unquestionably bizarre, the technology behind it is fascinating — and it all stems from how baldness works. All of a person’s hair stem cells are given to them at birth. They’ll be gone for good once they’ve left.
That is, at least, how things are right now. However, Lujan believes that his company can make follicle-forming stem cells by genetically altering other cells, such as normal skin cells.
He believes the procedure might be used to treat “the underlying cause of hair loss,” according to MIT Tech.
dNovo is part of a growing industry of companies that are using stem cells to “cure” baldness.
It’s crucial to remember, however, that much more study is needed before a commercial stem cell treatment is available.
In a blog post regarding stem cell therapy for baldness, Paul Knoepfler, a stem-cell researcher at UC Davis, warned, “You’ve got to be careful of scam offerings.”
