Mice offer hope of a cure for baldness
Scientists have moved closer to discovering a cure for baldness by growing patches of hairy human skin in a laboratory.
Scientists have moved closer to discovering a cure for baldness by growing patches of hairy human skin in a laboratory.
Researchers managed to coax pluripotent stem cells — which have the ability to transform into many types of human cell — into forming multi-layered skin tissue. The “skin organoids” boasted not only hair follicles but also oil-secreting sebaceous glands.
The skin patches were then grafted on to the backs of mice. Human hairs sprouted, between 2mm and 5mm long, on 55 per cent of the grafts.
The study, led by Jiyoon Lee of Boston Children’s Hospital, is the first proof that “a nearly complete skin microenvironment” can be grown artificially.
In a commentary on the research, Leo Wang and George Cotsarelis of the University of Pennsylvania said: “This places us closer to generating a limitless supply of hair follicles that can be transplanted to the scalps of people who have thinning or no hair.”
They said the study represented “a major step towards a ‘cure’ for baldness in humans, and paves the way towards other more therapeutic possibilities”.
The Times
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