In the News — Stem Cell Baldness Cure? Not Quite.

Snippet from the article:

Researchers working at the forefront of stem cell technology may also unexpectedly have come up with a cure for baldness.

They almost miraculously changed one cell type into a completely different one, but in the process ended up with skin cells complete with working hair follicles.

A treatment for baldness was not the goal when they started tinkering with cells from the thymus, a small but critical organ that helps run the body’s immune system to fight disease.

Rather, they wanted to see how stem cells from the thymus would perform if transplanted into growing skin as a way to help burns victims.

Read the full story at IrishTimes.com — Stem cell researchers may have found baldness cure

The title of the article might make for a good attention-grabbing headline, but it’s pretty misleading. This was an experiment on lab rats… and the hair lasted “as long as a year“. Granted, it is an interesting experiment, but I wouldn’t put too much hope into it.

Lots of research like this happens and ultimately doesn’t go much further. Could this be different and get a further look? Sure, but that remains to be seen. The researchers weren’t trying to grow hair, so I doubt they’re going to divert their attention to a completely new goal.

A similar article with further information can be found at ScienceDaily. Hat tip to the readers that sent me the link.