Hair cloning continues to evade medical research by the limitations of the growth of specific cells called dermal papilla cells.When human dermal papilla cells are grown in culture, they lose the ability to grow hair.
The New York Times published an article describing the recent experience of researcher Angela Christiano and researchers from Durham University in Britain.
They were able to grow dermal papilla cells in a new way.
Essentially they were able to grow dermal papilla cells by inverting the container which the cells would be typically grown in and were able to observe growth that could not be achieved before. It appeared that three dimensional contact between the cells resulted in the needed signals to begin hair growth.
This is another piece of a large and complex puzzle on how hair grows. The Hair Regeneration System reflects how I have integrated some of the recent studies on the behavior of dermal papilla cells. Cells and signals which are critical to hair growth appears to be what we are restoring with the wound healing technology of ECM (extracellular matrix) by ACell and PRP (platelet rich plasma). Hopefully this research will reveal more specific factors which can be applied clinically in the future.
Amiya Prasad, M.D.