Millions of men around the world get up each day and face taking Propecia, fighting the comb-over, and futilely trying to convince women that baldness is associated with high levels of testosterone. There are even those who resort to spray-painting their thin spots (according to the infomercial, you can even “comb the paint”). Donald Trump, with all his millions, goes on TV every week with his infamous “hair” rather than being bold and bald. And even Professor X’s mutant powers weren’t able to give him a full head of hair.
For all those “follicly-challenged” men waiting for a cure, I have some good news: baldness is on its way to being cured within our generation.
Published in the May 17 issue of Nature, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania reported that they were able to grow new hair follicles within three months by stimulating stem cells. They made the finding purely by accident while studying wound healing in mice. There is one small problem though. All the regenerated hair is white. But white hair is better than no hair and it can be dyed. There are actually a handful of companies racing to come up with the first marketable permanent cure for hair loss using stem cell technologies. Some have just begun clinical trials.
“In this study, researchers found that wound healing in a mouse model created an ‘embryonic window’ of opportunity. Dormant embryonic molecular pathways were awakened, sending stem cells to the area of injury. Unexpectedly, the regenerated hair follicles originated from non-hair-follicle stem cells.“We’ve found that we can influence wound healing with wnts or other proteins that allow the skin to heal in a way that has less scarring and includes all the normal structures of the skin, such as hair follicles and oil glands, rather than just a scar,â€? explains Dr. George Cotsarelis, professor of dermatology.
So get ready for it: the white haired “Santa” look, coming soon to a middle-aged skull near you.
Read more:
- “Baldness breakthrough: Stem cells coaxed into growing hair” – Daily Mail
- “First Demonstration of New Hair Follicle Generation in an Animal Model” – University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Press Release
Lincoln Kim is a member of the healthcare and life sciences team of the MaRS Venture Group. He evaluates and supports the development of technology platforms and commercial market opportunities of start up and emerging companies, facilitates collaboration among research groups and between research scientists and industry.
