Cloning Hair to Fight Baldness

Going bald? Send in the clones

By Elizabeth Svoboda Posted 06.04.2009 at 11:15 am 8 Comments

Toupee 2.0, Step 1 Intercytex’s technique involves extracting 100 hair-making cells from the back of the head Intercytex PLC/Farjo Medical Centre

Surgical solutions for restoring lush locks have always involved a painful trade-off — transplanting hairs from the rear of your head to the top could leave you thin in the back. But Bessam Farjo, a hair-loss specialist at the British company Intercytex, has devised a less barbaric fix: cloning patients' hair cells. "The concept is to create a limitless supply of donor hair," Farjo says.

Toupee 2.0, Step 2: Intercytex reproduces the cells in the lab to make millions of them Intercytex PLC/Farjo Medical Centre

Toupee 2.0, Step 3: The new cells are injected into the scalp to stimulate new growth Intercytex PLC/Farjo Medical Centre

Male pattern baldness is caused when some hair-producing dermal papilla cells begin growing thinner, less visible hairs. Standard transplant procedures involve plucking roughly 6,000 healthy cells, but Farjo takes only 100. He clones these in the lab until he has millions and then injects them into sparse scalp regions, where each can sprout a fresh hair and even encourage additional hair growth in neighboring scalp tissue. The procedure isn't just a matter of vanity; it could provide insight into how to clone other tissues for therapeutic uses.

Farjo recently wrapped up a 13-man, 48-week clinical trial in which 40 percent of the implanted cells, paired with blood-flow-stimulating scalp massage, produced new hair. His next goal: growing complete hair follicles in the lab, which could make the transformation from Mr. Clean to Donald Trump even more certain.

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8 Comments

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rlenston

06/04/09 at 1:02 pm

The weather man shall no longer be the sad, mocked creature that he once was!

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adamsbrett43

04/12/10 at 12:34 pm

It's so fascinating to read about the science behind ailments like this. It's very interesting that our some of our follicles have a color in the first place. Thankfully my genes are solid, but if I ever have to get some sort of treatment, I'll be opting for something like this!

- Brett @ www.hairlossreference.com/

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Paryk32

05/12/10 at 5:10 am

This is a very promising approach to help people with hair loss. But on the other hand this type of treatment is not suitable for people with fear of needles. These have to choose a wig or have to come to terms with their bald head (not necessarily a bad choice either).

Alex @ beautiful-wigs.com

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tdave

08/30/10 at 9:21 pm

"growing complete hair follicles in the lab"

Sounds extremely promising, I think the price probably *will* be a barrier to a lot of people..

Regard,
Dave
www.naturalhairreplacementsystems.blogspot.com

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WhatBaldSpot

06/14/11 at 3:09 pm

I have been hearing they will have a cure for baldness my entire adult life! Balding at 19, losing hair just isn't cool. Some may argue but in my opinion a full head of hair enhances a look. Not having hair, does not. The number one procedure to restore hair on a bald man's (or woman's), head is hair transplantation surgery. The days of the plugs are gone. The state of Florida is lucky to have the top doctor in the industry, Dr Brett Bolton who practices in Ft Lauderdale. This guys rocks! I have been battling hair loss for more than 25 years and so far winning. However, I sure wish Dr Bolton was around back when I started having hair transplants. It would have made life a whole lot nicer, and with a lot more hair! My name is Steve Cook. Hair loss and helping people get it back is my passion. My advice is free. www.GreatHairTransplants.com

Steven Cook
www.hairtransplantscience.com

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renagraham

12/02/11 at 4:27 am

Advances in the world of hair restoration presents with a lot of advantages which is why they are gaining more and more attention from many hair loss sufferers. Though having hair clone will really make a great improvement with the current hair transplant technology. http://www.HAIRandlaserclinic.com/

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renalee

01/25/12 at 3:25 am

As the famous saying goes, “you don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone,” hits right at home especially when what you’ve lost is constantly brought into awareness everytime you look in the mirror.

Hair loss is caused by many factors, such as stress, medications, environment, diet and even genetics. However one of the common culprit that causes hair loss in a lot of our Hollywood male stars is a hormone called DHT or dihydrotestosterone. This is a derivative from the male hormone testosterone and when it comes in contact with the delicate hair follicles, this cause excessive hair fall or what is also named androgenetic alopecia.

Source: http://www.hairandlaserclinic.com/

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KPNewsLiaison

04/09/12 at 6:53 pm

While this is interesting, 40% growth is still a long way from adequate hair restoration. This reminds me of the whole ACell thing. ACell touted cloning capabilities and even presented at the annual ISHRS conference, but cloning outcomes have continued to be disappointing. This is the ACell article I read: http://www.dermhairclinic.com/acell-hair-cloning-hair-restoration/

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