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    Could a Hair Transplant Today Cause Problems for Any Potential Cure or Cloning in the Future?

    Jun 17, 2014/by William Rassman, M.D./1 /Hair Cloning, Hair Transplantation

    If hair cloning is a viable option in the future (perhaps in 15-20 years since I know the time line keeps moving every year) would you expect to see a large number of people elect to have a hair transplant for the sole reason of increasing overall hair density? If the amount of available donor hair was no obstacle, could someone thicken their existing hair?

    Obviously, I would be satisfied just having decent hair coverage, and would elect to have a hair transplant in the future if I am a decent candidate, but I also don’t want previous hair loss remedies I’ve tried to affect any potential ‘cure’ in the future either.

    I’ve always believed that hair transplant candidates should go ahead and get their hair now while they are young enough to enjoy it. To be bluntly honest, there’s no point in waiting until you are an old man for what may never come about (hair cloning).

    Researchers are making great strides with hair cloning, but I have no idea how many years it’s going to be before anything reliably safe and effective is commercially available. If reliable hair cloning ever does come about to allow for unlimited donor hair, I could see possibly more people having their existing hair thickened.

    I obviously can’t know what the future holds, but I don’t see how moving hair from the back of the head into the top/front of the head would prevent any possible future treatment.

    Tags: hair cloning, hair transplant, hairloss, hair loss, hair loss treatment

    Any Educated Guess on When Hair Cloning Will Be a Reality?

    Apr 21, 2014/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /Hair Cloning

    Doc,

    Give me some straight dope on when you think hair cloning will be available. Meaning, by whatever method, the donor supply goes up. Please give me some kind of guess. You got to have some idea based on what you’ve seen research wise. An educated guess would be greatly appreciate for me and my follicularly challenged brethren.

    The 10 year timeline that has been used for well over 10 years now keeps moving.

    Unfortunately, I have no more insight into hair cloning progress than you have. The research is ongoing, and I will continue to post anything and everything that I can find about it. I am keeping no secrets.

    Tags: hair cloning, hairloss, hair loss

    Press Release – RepliCel Receives Japanese Patent

    Jan 23, 2014/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /Hair Cloning

    Snippet from the press release:

    RepliCel Life Sciences Inc. today announced that it has been granted a patent by Japan’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry for hair follicle mesenchymal stem cells and their use thereof. These cells are used in RepliCel’s RCH-01 treatment for androgenetic alopecia, also known as pattern hair loss. With the issuance of this patent, RepliCel now has patents issued in Japan, the United States, Australia and the European Union protecting its technology with other jurisdictions still pending.

    This patent approval is an important milestone as RepliCel’s licensing partner, Shiseido Company, prepares to conduct human clinical trials using RCH-01. Shiseido has an exclusive license to use RCH-01 in Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan and the ASEAN countries representing a population of approximately 2.1 billion people. According to the International Society of Hair Restoration (ISHR), the leading authority on hair loss treatment and restoration, almost one million patients sought treatment for hair loss in 2012. Of this number, 41% of the patients were from Asia, representing the largest single region, surpassing the United States by 15%.

    Read the rest — RepliCel Receives Japanese Patent Covering its Hair Regeneration Technology

    Tags: replicel, japan, patent, hairloss, hair loss, alopecia

    In the News – Dr Jahoda’s 3D Cultures Might Be the Key to Hair Cloning

    Nov 15, 2013/by William Rassman, M.D./8 /Hair Cloning

    Snippet from the article:

    We may now be a hair’s breadth away from a cure for baldness. For the first time, new human hairs have been coaxed into growing from specialised skin cells that can be multiplied in number to potentially create a full head of hair.

    Hair-raising remedies for hair loss currently consist of hormonal drugs to slow the process and hair transplants – where a section of hair follicles is moved from one area of the head to another. Finding a way to grow more hair, however, has proved difficult.

    Hair growth in adults occurs naturally in a process known as hair neogenesis – where cells called dermal papilla cells that span the top two layers of skin coax surrounding cells to form hair follicles. One reason hair loss occurs is when papillae stop working.

    Read the rest at New Scientist — 3D drops raise hopes of cure for baldness

    I posted a few links about this research last month, but I just read this article in New Scientist about the recent work by Dr. Colin Jahoda, who presented this material at the 2013 ISHRS meeting, and wanted to write a bit more about it.

    The key to his findings was his ability to produce hair by growing dermal papilla cells in a 3D manner. The process starts with the isolation of the dermal papilla cells, then let them grow and multiply so that their numbers increase. These cells are obtained from discarded hair transplant tissue and once put into a nutrient broth, some 30 hours later, each drop of solution contains about 3000 dermal papilla cells. These cells were injected into neonatal foreskin which is known to be hairless, easily available as it is taken from babies who were circumcised. The donor cells comes from between 5-7 patients. After about 6 weeks of growth in a 3D matrix solution there is growth and some hair actually can be seen.

    Dr. Jahoda believes that the key to his success was the use of a 3D matrix for growing the dermal papilla. The dermal papilla cells reprogram the skin cells as they grow and these reprogrammed cells form hair follicles. He believes that this will eventually lead to “hair cloning” therapies and the end result, he hopes, will not even require a surgical procedure like hair transplantation. Now that he knows which genes need to be expressed, drugs might even be developed that can reactivate the dermal papilla precursors in the scalp of balding people. Dr. Melanie McDowell from the University of Adelaide in Australia said, “The cool thing about hair follicles is you already have the channel into them, so topical creams have a good chance of getting down into where they’re needed.”

    I would expect that this would take years to identify the appropriate drug and then take the process through the FDA. For our audience reading this post, please be patient and give the researchers some room to finish defining the process and finding that “magic cream” they are looking for.

    Tags: jahoda, hairloss, hair loss, balding, dermal papilla

    Donor Doubling? ACell? Hair Replication?

    Nov 1, 2013/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /FUE, Hair Cloning

    What do you make of this new technique called donor doubling? They are able to bisect the fair follicle basically doubling the yield from one follicle. This sounds too good to be true.

    Link – Dr. Mwamba Discuses his New “Donor Doubling” Hair Transplant Technique

    We have seen this in the past, but worded with different terms. In general, if things sound “too good to be true” then it probably is! We have researched and tested the Acell (two years ago with Dr. Bernstein in N.Y.) for it’s acclaimed “cloning” potential touted by certain doctors. In short, it did not work in our hands. If it really did, these doctors would be on the front pages of Time Magazine and would be billionaires.

    One of the issues in the world of hair transplant restoration is that there is very little University based or academic based research. Hair transplant surgeons earn a living based on CASH for service. There is no insurance or academics involved. There are few government sponsored or private research grants for physicians or researchers in hair restoration.

    I realize there are societies such as ISHRS and AHRS that give the consumer / patient the perception of organization and research, but these organizations cannot and do not enforce or discipline to its members. It has no power to standardize medical procedures or grant classic American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) “board certification” type of endorsements to the hair transplant doctors. There is nothing wrong with these organizations, but consumers and patients must understand hair transplant doctors do NOT receive ABMS-equivalent board certification. Anyone who graduated medical school with one year residency can attend a seminar and set up shop as a hair transplant doctor. There is no formalized training like a typical medical residency program that the public thinks of. There are good intentioned surgeons who try to conduct research to advance the field of hair restoration, but there are also dishonest doctors who take advantage of their patients and get away with it.

    Read more

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

    Oct 22, 2013/by William Rassman, M.D./2 /Hair Cloning

    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
    Tags: christiano, jahoda, stem cells, hairloss, hair loss, cure

    In the News – Histogen Merging with Stratus Media, Will Be Renamed to Restorgenex Corp

    Oct 10, 2013/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /Hair Cloning

    Snippet from the press release —

    Stratus Media Group, Inc. (OTCQB:SMDI) announced today that it was planning to expand its entrance into the biotechnology industry with the execution of a letter of intent between the Company and Histogen, Inc., a regenerative medicine company developing innovative therapies for conditions including hair loss and cancer.

    The non-binding letter of intent outlines the primary terms of a merger of San Diego-based Histogen into Stratus, to be renamed Restorgenex Corporation. The letter of intent has been approved by the board of directors of both companies, and the parties are engaged in completing a formal merger agreement.

    Read the rest — Stratus Media Group and Histogen Execute Letter of Intent for Biotechnology Merger

    We’ve written about Histogen many times in the past. It appears that Stratus Media is getting into biopharmaceuticals lately by also announcing a merger with Canterbury Laboratories, LLC, and Hygeia Therapeutics, Inc last month.

    Tags: histogen, hair cloning, hair multiplication, stratus, restorgenex

    Press Release – Histogen Receives Patent for Hair Growth Composition

    Sep 24, 2013/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /Hair Cloning

    Snippet from the press release:

    Histogen, Inc., a regenerative medicine company developing innovative therapies based on the products of cells grown under simulated embryonic conditions, today announced that the United States Patent & Trademark Office has issued patent 8,535,913, entitled “Soluble Composition for Promoting Hair Growth Produced by Hypoxic Culture of Fibroblast Cells”.

    The patent, which is the fourth US patent issued to the Company, covers the liquid composition of proteins and cofactors that is secreted by multipotent stem cells through Histogen’s technology process, and the method of administering that composition to stimulate hair growth. Histogen’s Hair Stimulating Complex (HSC), covered by this new patent, is in clinical development as an injectable treatment for male pattern and female diffuse hair loss.

    Read the rest — Histogen’s Composition for Hair Growth Receives US Patent

    Tags: histogen, hair loss, hairloss, patent

    If Aderans Research is Selling Their Lab Equipment, Does That Mean Hair Cloning is Dead?

    Jul 24, 2013/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /Hair Cloning

    Dear Doc,

    I see that aderans is selling off some of their equipment. I suppose this means that they are no longer pursuing hair cloning. In your opinion does this mean that we are unlikely to see hair cloning as a genuine option in the future? Have there been any advances?

    I wasn’t sure what you were referring to, but I hunted down this article about Aderans Research Institute having a liquidation auction for all of their equipment and furniture. While interesting, I don’t have any insider information with Aderans and I am not aware of any advancements nor setbacks in hair cloning.

    We should watch press releases to see if there is a problem with them, though I do agree that liquidating their lab equipment does seem suspicious. Is it the end of their research? I have no idea. Until we hear further info about it though, all we can do is speculate. Perhaps someone else has some info that they can share with us (and if so, drop us an email)

    Tags: aderans, hair cloning, hairloss, hair loss, auction

    Is Hair Cloning Happening Outside the US?

    Jun 5, 2013/by William Rassman, M.D./1 /Hair Cloning

    interested in hair cloning. is anyone doing this now? I know aderans completed phase 3 trials. but I was wondering if anyone outside united states is already doing this successfully of course.

    thanks

    There are no proven cases where hair cloning has been performed successfully as a clinical treatment.

    Tags: hair cloning, hairloss, hair loss

    In the News – The Future of Stem Cells

    May 24, 2013/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /Hair Cloning

    Snippet from the article:

    In the world of TV soap operas, it’s a familiar storyline. A brilliant but troublesome character who was written out of the script years ago makes an unexpected comeback, sending ripples of excitement through the community but also reopening old wounds. That, in essence, is what happened in stem cell research this week, with the return of a technique called therapeutic cloning. What comes next should make for compelling viewing.

    A few years ago, therapeutic cloning looked like the future of medicine. It promised to realise the dream of repairing damaged tissues and organs using a patient’s own cells. But it also had a dark side: producing its supply of stem cells required the creation of human embryos which were later destroyed.

    Read the rest in New Scientist — Stem cells: Back to the future

    So maybe this means that within our horizon, we will be able to create hair cells from our donor area with cloning instead of transplanting the hair itself. Of course, this is theory right now and there is much to be worked out… but perhaps this points the map for the work we have to do.

    From the same issue of New Scientist, I read another article about stem cells, more specifically about human stem cells created using the Dolly cloning technique:

      “The idea is to take a cell from a patient – from skin, for example – and fuse it with a human egg cell emptied of its own chromosomes. The fused cell behaves like an embryo and generates hESCs [human embryonic stem cells]. In theory, these cells can be turned into whatever tissue the patient needs.”

    Hair could be a target for this just as the heart, kidney, or liver can be. I am aware of an effort that was made in the 1990s where hair cells were reproduced and injected into hairless mice. These hair cells grew in the Petri dish, but when injected into mice, they grew wild and in all directions, causing infection that killed all of the mice. Not so easy, huh!

    Tags: hairloss, hair loss, hair growth, stem cells

    Press Release – RepliCel Receives Issue Notification from USPTO

    Apr 26, 2013/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /Hair Cloning

    Snippet from the press release:

    RepliCel Life Sciences Inc. is pleased to announce that it has received issue notification from the United States Patent and Trademark Office with respect to RepliCel’s technology for preparing populations of dermal sheath cup cells for its hair regeneration procedure. These cells are used to treat patients suffering from androgenetic alopecia, also known as pattern hair loss. With the issuance of this patent, RepliCel will now have patents issued in the United States, Australia and the European Union. Additional patent applications, further protecting and expanding on our technology, are pending in the European Union, Canada, Japan, the United States, as well as other countries.

    Read the rest — RepliCel Receives Issue Notification from the United States Patent and Trademark Office Protecting Methods of Preparing Dermal Sheath Cup Cells for Its Hair Regeneration Technology

    I don’t know what it means for the viability of hair regeneration, but they are proud to announce they’re getting patents on their technology.

    Tags: replicel, patent, hair regeneration

    Will Cloning or a New Drug Be the Next Treatment for Hair Loss?

    Mar 26, 2013/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /Hair Cloning, Hair Products

    Hello Dr

    Are there or have you heard of any new potential treatments for hair loss that we might likely see in the next 5 years or so? There doesn’t really seem to be anything new since the discovery of propecia and that was some time ago. In your opinion will it be hair cloning or some form of drug if there is anything on the horizon

    There is a lot of activity with clinical trials going on, but we are not privy to them. We, like you, wait to see which treatments rise to the top. I couldn’t say whether cloning or a new drug will be first to rise, though. It all depends on the ongoing research and development.

    Tags: hairloss, hair loss, treatment, cloning

    Can You Explain the RepliCel Phase 1 Before and After Photos?

    Mar 19, 2013/by William Rassman, M.D./2 /Hair Cloning

    dear doctor

    i have heard about the news of replicel. i searched their website and found something weird. In their paper, there are two photos in the first page, but i cannot see any change in hair density as they claim. Can you explain it to me? thanks

    RepliCel PDF

    I do not know much about this, but based on what you linked to, it looks like they are proposing to test 108 men in phase 2 (it does not seem like this has been done). As they word it, it is “anticipated that implanted cells will migrate to damaged or dormant follicles and help rejuvenate them“. They do not mention the science. They seem to stress the monetary dollar amount of the hair loss market (more so than the science), so they are likely looking for investors.

    Finally, I do not see much hair density in the photo myself, at least not visibly/cosmetically. Perhaps someone else more informed about RepliCel can provide more.

    Tags: replicel, hairloss, hair loss

    Whatever Happened to Dr Cooley’s Auto-Cloning Procedures?

    Dec 12, 2012/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /Hair Cloning

    Hey Guys,

    I was reading something on Dr. Jerry Cooley and him already doing the auto cloning procedures and that it takes better when implanted in areas of already implanted sites. I think I remember a few years ago that you guys were starting to test this. Are you guys doing this now? I would love to thicken out my front of my head without taking anymore from the back of my head since I’ve had 5 surgeries already. Thanks.

    To put it in a politically correct way, the claim could not be validated by us and it did not work in our hands. Many prominent doctors/peers and medical clinics tried to replicate the research and method, and it does not hold up to the claims. If he is still promoting it, then I would ask him personally.

    Tags: cooley, auto-cloning, hairloss, hair loss, cloning
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