Baldness Cure Procured by Altering Stem Cells in Breakthrough Study

Stem cells have come to the rescue of receding hairlines of millions of men world over as researchers may have found a cure in them for male baldness.

According to The Telegraph, the new cure involves turning stem cells to create dermal papilla cells which are crucial for follicle formation. Papilla cells were used in the past by extraction from healthy scalp and multiplication.

"We have developed a method using human pluripotent stem cells to create new cells capable of initiating human hair growth. The method is a marked improvement over current methods that rely on transplanting existing hair follicles from one part of the head to another. Our stem cell method provides an unlimited source of cells from the patient for transplantation and isn't limited by the availability of existing hair follicles," said Alexey Terskikh an associate professor at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, in a news release.

The institute's researchers established a viable procedure to turn stem cells into papilla cells, The Times of India reported.

"In adults, dermal papilla cells cannot be readily amplified outside of the body and they quickly lose their hair-inducing properties. We developed a protocol to drive human pluripotent stem cells to differentiate into dermal papilla cells and confirmed their ability to induce hair growth when transplanted into mice," Terskikh said.

"Our next step is to transplant human dermal papilla cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells back into human subjects. We are currently seeking partnerships to implement this final step."