In the News – Dr Christiano’s Research Team Found That Upside Down Cells Produce New Hair

Snippet from the article:

In the new study, Christiano and her colleagues sought to figure out how to take hair cells from the body, clone them and then reinsert them back into the body where they’ll grow new hair from new follicles. The process falls apart because the cells lose the ability to instruct the skin to make new hair, she explained.

In the new study, researchers found that the cells retain their ability to figure out what to do when the researchers grow the cells upside down. “We don’t put genes into them, and they’re not manipulated at all,” Christiano noted.

The hair cells produced by the process were able to produce new hair in five out of seven donor models of human skin, she said, although there’s more work to be done to make them fully develop hair the way they should.

Read the rest — Researchers Report Progress With Growing Hair

This is quite exciting, especially considering the two individuals who pioneered the work (Drs. Christiano and Jahoda). Keep in mind that this research is still very early and is not a cure for hair loss, but the findings and the techniques are impressive.

Other articles speak to the technique very well:

• LA Times – New Technique Holds Promise for Hair Growth
• Columbia University – Hair Regeneration Method is First to Induce New Human Hair Growth