Baldness cure may lie in stem cells

Australian scientists from St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne and Melbourne University are trying to cure baldness by using stem cells to grow a potentially endless supply of new hair, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. If proved successful, cloning would overcome the limitations of existing hair-loss treatments.

Hair transplant surgery, for example, redistributes hair but does not create new hair. Drugs such as minoxidil and finasteride stop balding as long as they are taken but can’t reverse it,

In this recent study scientists extracted adult stem cells from hair follicles. By this, they’re trying to coax them to spawn new hair follicles in a culture dish. The other challenge is implanting the baby hair follicles.