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Scientists Induce New Hair Growth In Balding Men

sciencehabit writes "Scientists have successfully grown new hair follicles from the skin cells of balding men. While the research team (abstract) hasn't yet shown whether the structures, which produce strands of hair on our bodies, are fully functional and usable for transplants onto a scalp, experts say the discovery is a significant step toward finding new treatments for hair loss. Previous attempts used standard two-dimensional cell culturing techniques, but the new works grows the follicles in suspended droplets, better replicating the 3-D environment of the body. Using one's own cells to generate new follicles is useful because hair color and thickness will match perfectly with the rest of someone's head of hairs. And with the new technique, clinicians would be able to take just a few dermal papilla cells from a balding patient and expand the number of hair follicles available for transplant, rather than only be able to move follicles around."

38 of 232 comments (clear)

  1. Just think of the uses! by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Could they grow hair on my elbows using this technique? It would be nice and comfortable whilst leaning against my desk.

  2. Re:Wow, glad we solved that! by cfalcon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I bet you went bald in your teens right bro?

    "Imagine if we applied this effort to shit that bothers me. The fact that some men are almost unable to date doesn't bother ME, so fuck you."

    Gtfo with your high horse. A fix for baldness will prevent tons of suffering.

    Sad thing is, I knew some jackass would get on his high horse the moment that something like this hit slashdot.

  3. Which color? by Valdrax · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Using one's own cells to generate new follicles is useful because hair color and thickness will match perfectly with the rest of someone's head of hairs.

    Assuming that you take samples from the same area, I'd guess. After all, a good number of people have very different hair color and thickness at different parts of the body, like men with dark hair and reddish beards. Do we actually know what controls that?

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    If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
  4. Hes not just the lead author of a scientific study by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    He's also a client. --dept

  5. Re:Wow, glad we solved that! by dgatwood · · Score: 5, Insightful

    On the other hand, skin and hair are relatively easy to experiment on, making it a fairly reasonable first step, assuming that at least some of the techniques involved can be applied to other areas of regenerative research, such as organ regeneration, dermal regeneration for burn victims, etc.

    --

    Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  6. Re:Who cares by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Or you could you know, just shave your goddamn head. Never understood why some people have such a want to get their hair back. Even tho transplants seem alot better than other solutions such as sprays and wigs, which will literally fall off or melt off your head in certain conditions, why waste the money. I have never understood this fascination.

    For some combination of mortality-anxiety and the desire to get laid, people are obsessed with any measures that can keep aging indicators at bay and restore a youthful appearance. Only a fairly small subset of male aesthetics actually look suitably young with a shaved head.

  7. Re:Wow, glad we solved that! by SplawnDarts · · Score: 3

    I hate to break it to you, but plenty of bald men date without any particular difficulty. Buzz cuts work wonders.

    Being poor or socially awkward is a much bigger inhibitor to dating than baldness.

  8. Re:Who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I can't. I look like a neo-nazi when my head is shaved.

  9. Re:Who cares by mark-t · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Some of us happen to have godawful ugly heads and those around them can be blissfully grateful for whatever cover the hair upon it can afford, whether this hair is natural or not.

  10. Re:Who cares by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 2

    I agree. I figure when I'm bald enough that it matters, I'll just shave my head and wear a cap.

    As with Minoxidil, this method looks more likely to be useful for women, who have cultural bias towards not losing hair.

    Or at least the ones who don't wear wigs.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  11. Re:Who cares by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 5, Funny

    Some of us happen to have godawful ugly heads and those around them can be blissfully grateful for whatever cover the hair upon it can afford, whether this hair is natural or not.

    Have you thought of decals, caps, or racing stripes?

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  12. Re:Wow, glad we solved that! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    No, no, it is just they keep asking out obvious lesbians.

  13. Re:Wow, glad we solved that! by phorm · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I shaved my head down once, and it looked *terrible*, especially compared to when I just kept my hair long. Not everyone has a nice clean shiny skull to show off. Some of us have scars, discolorations/birthmarks, that can be nicely covered up with a full (or even partial) head of hair. Add to that various things that are more likely to show up with a shaved head and too much sun (such as said discolorations, or even melanoma) and there are plenty of reasons to keep ones hair beyond simple vanity.

  14. Re:Dumb... by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 2

    That's why my toupee is made entirely of $100 bills.

    --

    ---
    ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
  15. Re:Who cares by ChrisMaple · · Score: 2

    Fine, if you spend all your time in the dark or hiding under your desk. If you actually get outdoors during the day, hair protects your head from sunburn (and skin cancer) and helps keep you warm.

    --
    Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  16. Scalp? by roc97007 · · Score: 2

    Wake me when they've managed to grow chest hair.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  17. Re:As a man who currently shaves his head bald by roc97007 · · Score: 2

    And looks damn good with a bald head, I say: bring it on! The only way I will ever have hair again... is if I can have a JESUS-MANE of hair! Damn straight! I'll grow that out down to my shoulders! Hell yeah!!! Go long, or go bald--No in-betweens!!!!

    How about long and bald? At the local hippy-fair I see a lot of heads that are bald on the top with a long fringe tied back in a rather stringy pony tail. I haven't decided whether it's a common fashion statement or part of the uniform.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  18. Idiocracy by wisnoskij · · Score: 2, Informative

    "but sadly the greatest minds and resources where focused on conquering hair loss and prolonging erections."

    --
    Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
    1. Re:Idiocracy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Was reading various news sources about this. It is strange that a lot of people attack this research. They say that we should be trying to fix more important things and baldness isn't important. You don't see that kind of reaction for women's makeup or even digital devices. How about movies? According to people like you, if it isn't a cure for poverty or disease, we shouldn't be researching it.

    2. Re:Idiocracy by psithurism · · Score: 2

      "but sadly the greatest minds and resources where focused on conquering hair loss and prolonging erections."

      So, by your example, they should instead be commenting on news stories that don't interest them?

      Research that improves peoples' lives is great. Sometimes that means curing diseases and saving lives, exploring space and inspiring awe, but other other times that means letting old people get it on and making people happy.

  19. Re:Wow, glad we solved that! by cfalcon · · Score: 2

    You're kidding yourself if you think you have access to the same pool of women you would if you weren't bald. An attractive man with a good head of hair has far more options than an attractive man who is bald. Especially if your baldness happens in your teens. As a freshman in college (when I had just turned 18), people thought I was some old guy returned to the dorms, even though I was younger than all of them. A couple years later as a TA, I asked the students to guess my age- the lowest number was 28, at the time six years older than my actual age. Hiding my hairline with a hat elicited absolute gasps, as the students realized the truth- I was at most two years older than any of them.

    Most guys don't deal with hair loss until they are well into adulthood, if not old or middle aged. But it can shit on you in your 20s, and it is absolutely absurd in your teens.

    But baldness will fuck over any guy who it happens to in the dating market. There are women who prefer bald men, but there are also women who will only date guys with nice hair. As a bald guy, you are competing exclusively in the first camp. As a guy with a nice head of hair, you have your pick of both fields.

  20. Re:Wow, glad we solved that! by cfalcon · · Score: 2

    Grey is unfortunate, but it's at least possible to dye your hair convincingly and indefinitely. There's no medical solution for baldness yet- if there was, you know John Travolta would have been all over it, right? So baldness you are just fucked with it, and it needs a solution, and it doesn't need a bunch of jackwads pretending that we shouldn't try to solve it because it isn't fucking cancer, or that it's a trifling matter. Fuck them, and if you agree with them, fuck you too.

  21. Re:Who cares by dadelbunts · · Score: 2

    Its not. I shave every 2-3 days. Really easy and simpler than when i had hair.

  22. Re:Who cares by dadelbunts · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Protip: I have been bald since my early 20s. Never had a problem talking to women. Or any of these nonexistant things that are listed. If you lack the confidence to be outgoing and approach people thats on you, dont blame it on baldness.

  23. Good news/Bad news by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

    The good news is it grows hair. The bad news is you now have pubic hair on your head.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  24. Damn! by PPH · · Score: 2

    I've spent the last few decades cultivating a natural reverse Mohawk.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  25. Re:Who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I agree with you. Completely.

    For the rest of you:

    What a bunch of pussies. Shave your head with a cheapass Atra cartridge on a Headblade every other day, get outside to get rid of the initial blinding whiteness via a slight tan (if you're a white guy) and suck it up. I'm early 40s, have been shaving my head for eight years, and get more Tang than a fucking astronaut. I'm just like a lot of you guys, MBTI INTJ, IQ third standard deviation to the right, geek for a living, etc. (Note: introverted.. extremely... but *not* shy).

    Seriously, do that, then get your lame ass over to SimpleFit and do what this guy did and quit fucking whining. If that's too hard get a GymBoss and a ten dollar jump rope. Ten to twenty minutes of interval jump roping can fuck your shit up something proper. One variable you can control is the shape you're in.

    And to those of you who are whining about not getting laid.. if you're under 30 with a horribly shaped cranium, I *might* say 'okay.. sorry about your luck, do what you can'. Over 30, the rules change. After shaving that noggin, you can (as previously stated) either do SimpleFit or some other physical activity (if I were a betting man, I'd bet the majority of you bitching have quite a bit askew aside from your follicle situation), dress a bit better, and.. I'm not making this up.. improve your posture. Chin up, chest out a bit (mainly by pulling those shoulders back, not physically sticking your chest out like a bird) and don't stare at the goddamned ground all the time. I'm no looker, but confidence will get you a looooong way, and the ones that count and are over 30 generally see through the shallow stuff (you did know that in most marriages that 'make it', partners are normally within 1/2 standard deviation of IQ of each other, right? And no, I don't have the cite handy). Short version: have something worthwhile to say.

    I'm sorry if it's harsh, but so many of you live in your head and sit back while things happen, and I used to be like you. You can take corrective action at times. I grew up without much, joined the military, and went from full-on Iron Maiden mullet introvert 6502 jockey cracking Atari 800 software to completely dehumanized in the military (that first head shaving and cold shower along with an assload of med techs injecting you with inoculations while standing there cold and naked works wonders for the self esteem), to a professional software engineer with a career. It puts things in perspective; I worry about cancer, getting shot, whether or not some asshole on Wall Street is going to tank my investments, etc.. my hair (or lack thereof) is way down on the list.

    And if somebody puts you down, always, always consider the source. At least once weekly I find myself thinking "metadata analysis indicates you're a fucking moron.. finished yet? I need to get more coffee?"

    Guy at the water cooler: What's up, chrome dome?
    Me: How original, that the best you got, Algernon? How's life on the tail end.. *snicker*

    Rant over.. sometime during my hitch in the military I converted from totally introverted programmer to a Klingon. It's worked out for me at least. Even nowadays in Counterstrike or Team Fortress I never defend; I'm all about the invasion. I've worked with far too many of you that take shit you don't need to take, and attribute it to a red herring.

    No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. - Eleanor Roosevelt

  26. Re:Yea, Been Pullin' my hair out over this... by roc97007 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe she was a lesbian???

    Now that you mention, she did say that, but I said that's ok, how are things in Beirut?

    I've been waiting since 1971 to use that joke.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  27. Re:Who cares by artor3 · · Score: 2

    I'm not depressed, therefore you have no right to be! Antidepressant research is a waste of time!

    Get over yourself.

  28. Re:Harvested foreskins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    The foreskin has the most sensitive parts of the penis.

    You probably mean that the glans has most sensitive parts of the penis. Which, of course, is protected by the foreskin, that helps to maintain the sensitivity of the mucous membrane.

    To fine touch, the foreskin is the most sensitive.
    look up:
    "Fine touch receptors in the human penis" Sorrels et al

  29. Re:Who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I have been bald since my early 20s. Never had a problem finding a job because my baldness.

    But you are posting on Slashdot, so apparently you haven't had as much luck finding a mate.

  30. Re:Yea, Been Pullin' my hair out over this... by Derec01 · · Score: 2

    Um, okay.

    I like my hair. It's really just about as simple as that. I use Rogaine for that, and it seems to have stalled the loss for a while. It won't work in the long term. If the cost becomes unreasonable, I would stop.

    To me, it's exactly the same as paying to keep/obtain other things I like, such as pets or clothing. I don't understand why wanting to keep it is necessarily a proxy for my insecurity. I'd like to keep my fitness level too, but that also will inevitably decline.

    All is vanity in the end anyway, so I guess you just hang out with hermits?

  31. I have no problem with wanting my hair back. by oogoliegoogolie · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I question how honest someone is being to themselves when they say that they are going bald or are bald and yet state it has not affected them. I've been bald for since the 90's. Do I worry about being bald? No. Am I aware I am bald? Every day.

    I have no guilt about money being spent on 'unbalding' research. We're not talking about cosmetic surgery or injections, but instead returning something that has been lost to me.

    To all the people, bald or hairy, that think going bald is no big deal. If the world was a fair place then yes, having no hair would not matter, and neither would other superficial things, but we don't reside in some fairy-tale realm. Unfortunately we have to deal with the real world and deal with real people that judge you on you appearance which includes height, body weight, the clothes you wear, swagger, body decorations like tattoos an piercings, and of course YOUR HAIR!

    Baldness adds years to your age. I'm not talking about shaved heads. I mean being bald and still letting your hair grow at the back and sides. 5-10 year easily gets added on.
    Thankfully shaved-heads have been an acceptable style for the past 20 years. Unfortunately not everyone can shave their head and still look good. Many men have Charlie Brown heads.
    As much as women say they find bald men sexy, those women are few and far between, and the bald men they are attracted to are usually 'larger than life' men like movie stars. In the real world the majority of women consider balding men unattractive.

    Everyone knows that baldness is very emotionally debilitating, but it also affects you physically.
    -You're colder in the winter because of the lack of hair thus less insulation. Sometimes I even have to wear a hat or toque indoors. I find hats uncomfortable. Debilitating no, but it is annoying.
    -the sun quickly cooks your cranium in the summer because there's no hair to insulate you from the sun's rays. Wear a hat you say? Well hat's make it worse if you shave your head because the hat forms an air-tight seal with your shaven head, preventing any air circulation underneath your hat. It's either shade or a bandanna or put up with the sun beaming down on the cranium for us baldies.
    -Hair acts as a cushion your head when you bang your head on something. Hair also has sensory functionality and warns you when something is about to touch it. When you have a chrome-dome, that sensory function is gone. Don't believe me? Hold your hand out and slowly move it towards your head and you hair will pick up and feel your hand while it is still inches away.
    -Hair hides stuff on your head. I have numerous acne scars on the back of my head that make me feel uncomfortable if others see. A coworker recently had a tumor removed from her brain. They went in through the upper back of her skull. Her scar is not visible because she has thick long flowing hair which hides the scar. That scar would be visible from thirty feet away on my shaved head.

    Those above items will seem trivial to many, but they are things I have to be conscious of and work around at times. You don't realize what a full head of hair does for you until it's gone.

  32. Re:Harvested foreskins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Nope, the foreskin is the most sensitive part. Men in America think the glans is the most sensitive because it's the most sensitive part they have *left*.

    A 2007 study tested the fine touch sensitivity of a group of circumcised men and a group of intact men. The study found that the foreskin has dense concentrations of nerve endings. Circumcision removes all of those nerves. Using data from that study, these diagrams show the areas of penile sensitivity. As you can see, the most sensitive parts are removed by circumcision:
    http://www.circumstitions.com/Sexuality.html#sorrells

  33. Re:Who cares by phantomfive · · Score: 3, Interesting

    lol that's not his point. His point is, he DOES have baldness, but it doesn't stop him from talking to women. So if you have trouble with talking to women, it's because of a different reason than baldness.

    And his point is right.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  34. Yeah by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ooh that looks like an unbiased url. If you weren't an AC it would almost look trustworthy.

    Medical evidence belongs on reputable peer reviewed sites, not on advocacy sites funded by hate mongerers. Track the sites origin to its roots.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

    1. Re:Yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Don't be a nitwit.
      Google is your friend. That page links here, and here's the damn "reputable peer reviewed Scientific Journal".
      And just so you know, Contrary to what the mainstream media would have you believe, Men's Rights Advocacy isn't for hate-mongers, its memebers are frequently also Women's Rights Activists, and many vocal members are Women. It's actually the opposition that's hateful. The feminists have a majority voice in media and politics right now, so I don't blame you if you adopt their easy to believe lies without wondering why they're not based on any science, but untestable opinionated ideas instead...

      Interestingly, ABC also brought us D is for Dad and Dumb" the weekend of this past Father's Day... Wha? But isn't that kind of... anti-men? You wouldn't have a segment like that on mother's day eh? Interesting that I made this comment on the 20/20 article page about the "manosphere", and provided a link to the source of some of their material that proves that they were purposefully factually wrong about A Voice for Men -- They cited "hate speech" that's an example of will get you banned...

      Protected by the anonymity of the Internet, men feel free to post hateful and violent comments. Posts such as "I really wouldn't mind shooting a [expletive] dead in the face, they are evil, all of them," and "Women are the natural enemies of men" are commonplace on sites like "A Voice for Men," a Manosphere blog run by Paul Elam.

      Search that quote, the page it appears on AVFM is here, where he says this about that comment:

      No Redpill, fuck this kind of post. It has been sent to the trash where it belongs, and I am willing to do the same with your username if you ever post this kind of garbage to my website again.

      As expected, all of the comments that demonstrate the ABC article as biased and factually wrong have been deleted from it.

      Oh, but this is Slashdot, so of course you and the mods can think for your selves, eh? You don't need help "tracking" any information "origin to its roots".

      +1 redundant please, and thank you.

  35. Re:Captain Picard by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2

    No, Kirk would have used it. Picard knows he can pull off the dome.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.