Biotechnology researchers have discovered a way to use stem cells to regrow human hair! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stem cells and the emerging field of regenerative medicine is changing the very nature of healthcare from drug discovery to astounding new treatments. Now, several different groups of researchers are poised to leverage this technology in a remarkable way to end baldness!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One start-up, a company called dNovo, recently released a photo to the press of a mouse sprouting a dense clump of human hair\u2014the result of a transplant of what the company says are human hair stem cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company\u2019s founder is Ernesto Lujan, a Stanford University-trained biologist. He says his company can produce the components of hair follicles by genetically \u201creprogramming\u201d ordinary cells, like blood or fat cells. More work needs to be done, but Lujan is hopeful that the technology could eventually treat \u201cthe underlying cause of hair loss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The chance of replacing hair is one corner in a wider exploration of whether reprogramming technology can defeat the symptoms of aging. In August, MIT Technology Review reported on a company, Altos Labs, that plans to explore whether people can be rejuvenated using reprogramming. Another start-up, Conception, is trying to extend fertility by converting blood cells into human eggs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So far, there have been only a few demonstrations of reprogramming as a way to treat patients. Researchers in Japan tried transplanting retina cells into blind people. Then, last November, a US company, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, said it might have cured a man\u2019s type 1 diabetes after an infusion of programmed beta cells, the kind that respond to insulin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether dNovo\u2019s technique to solve baldness via stem cell reprogramming remains to be seen; however, there certainly is a market should it work. About half of men undergo male-pattern baldness, some starting in their 20s. When women lose hair, it\u2019s often a more general thinning, but it\u2019s no less a blow to self-image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Right now, there are some approved drugs for hair loss, like Propecia and Rogaine, but they\u2019re of limited use. Another procedure involves cutting strips of skin from someplace where a person still has hair and surgically transplanting those follicles onto a bald spot. Lujan says in the future, hair-forming cells grown in the lab could be added to a person\u2019s head with a similar surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, is stem-cell technology going to cure baldness or become the next false hope? Geoff Hamilton, CEO of Stemson, another start-up company taking a similar approach to hair loss as dNovo, said at the recent Global Hair Loss Summit, \u201cWe have seen so many [people] come in and say they have a solution. That has happened a lot in hair, and so I have to address that. We\u2019re trying to project to the world that we are real scientists and that it\u2019s risky to the point I can\u2019t guarantee it\u2019s going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Biotechnology researchers have discovered a way to use stem cells to regrow human hair! Stem cells and the emerging field of regenerative medicine is changing the very nature of healthcare from drug discovery to astounding new treatments. Now, several different groups of researchers are poised to leverage this technology in a remarkable way to end baldness! One start-up, a company called dNovo, recently released a photo to the press of a mouse sprouting a dense clump of human hair\u2014the result […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supplements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=549"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":550,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549\/revisions\/550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}