- A team of researchers from Japan may have discovered the cure for baldness.
- The RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research used stem cells and a specific culture mechanism to create hair follicles that can recycle hair, just like natural hair follicles.
- Any hair regeneration treatment should produce hair that can regrow after it falls. The stem cell therapy produced hair follicles that, in laboratory tests, went through at least three hair cycles of normal hair production.
Many people have tried to cure a medical condition that affects millions of people around the world, with men mainly affected by it. Baldness can be caused by specific drug therapies, such as cancer treatment, and some COVID-19 survivors have found that hair loss is an uncommon symptom. But baldness occurs in many others without a specific trigger. According to the American Hair Loss Association, two-thirds of American men will experience some degree of hair loss by the age of 35. By the age of 50, up to 85% of men will experience significant thinning hair.
Baldness doesn’t affect a person’s health, but it can take an emotional toll on those affected by it. There are several therapies for baldness, but there is no cure that can reverse the process. Now a team in Japan may have found a solution to restore hair growth with the help of stem cells.
Today’s best deal Price:
BGR is available from Amazon and can receive a commission Available at Amazon BGR can receive a commission
The researchers used stem cells to make hair follicles that can regrow hair after it falls out. That’s how hair growth should function. Hair loss is natural, but each strand of hair should be replaced with a new one that grows back into place. Scientists from the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research published a paper in Nature Scientific Reports (through Futurism) describing their progress with mammalian stem cells.
They took fur and whisker cells from mice and then grew them along with other ingredients in the lab. They used 220 combinations and found that one type of collagen combined with five factors (NFFSE medium) would lead to the highest degree of stem cell amplification in the shortest time. The RIKEN team explained that a successful hair restoration treatment that can cure baldness must produce hair that recycles. That means the hair can grow back after it has fallen out naturally.
These researchers combined bio-engineered hair follicle stem cells with the NFFSE medium, as well as the medium lacking one of the ingredients. They observed the regenerated hair for three weeks and found that the NFFSE medium caused the hair follicles to go through at least three cycles of normal hair production. The other medium was nowhere near as efficient, with 79% of the follicles producing only one hair cycle.
The researchers also found that a specific marker on the surface of cells grown in the NFFSE medium favored the hair cycle. “We found that almost 80% of the follicles reached three hair cycles when Itgβ5 was also biologically manipulated into the hair follicle germ,” author Makoto Takeo said in a statement. “In contrast, only 13% achieved three cycles when it was not present.”
“Our culture system establishes a method for cyclic regeneration of hair follicles from hair follicle stem cells and will help make hair follicle regeneration therapy a reality in the near future,” said Takashi Tsuji, lead author of the study.
Before this baldness cure becomes commercially available, it must pass clinical trials. So far, the RIKEN researchers have demonstrated stem cell therapy in preclinical laboratory tests. Tsuji said the institute is looking for outside staff to help develop clinical applications for the new hair growth technology.
The full study is available at this link.
Today’s best deal 
Honeywell’s fabric face masks are in stock on Amazon for the lowest price ever! List price:$ 29.99 Price:$ 22.24 You save:$ 7.75 (26%) BGR is available from Amazon and can receive a commission Available at Amazon BGR can receive a commission
Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby and before he knew it, he shared his thoughts on tech matters with readers around the world. When not writing about gadgets, he sadly fails to stay away from them, though he desperately tries. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.