Hair Cloning - Hair Multiplication
Q:
Is Hair cloning or multiplication being done anywhere yet?
A:
Hair cloning or multiplication has been in the news in the last few years. I prefer to use tem “hair multiplication” rather than cloning because cloning refers to production of genetically identical organisms. Dolly the most celebrated sheep was the product of first cloning. When it comes to hair, we do not really clone the cells, but we culture them and try to get a whole organism from cultured cells. Unfortunately the process of culturing hair follicle cells has not been as simple as some other tissues in human body. The complexity of hair physiology is due to participation of many different stem cells in development of each hair follicle. In this process, we do not multiply genetic material or DNA of cells.
Hair cloning news
Hair multiplication if become a reality could bring about a great opportunity for bald people with violated donor scalp who cannot be good candidates for hair transplantation with current techniques. Despite our enthusiasm about hair multiplication, hair cloning news in last few years has not been filled with many success stories.
Hair cloning 2007
Year 2006 intercytex company announced that they are going to start phase 3 of hair multiplication study soon. Hair cloning has been in the news and many people are eagerly following that news to see when and how they can get a full head of hair using hair cloning techniques. Unfortunately, cloning hair has not been going that well and in last few years we only had limited research results on hair multiplication in animal models and in human. Here is the question that people usually ask me:” Is hair cloning being done anywhere yet?” My answer is: Not except on experimental levels. Several investigations are in process on hair multiplication field and hair stem cell research.
Hair cloning 2008
Hair multiplication or as people call it hair cloning is a method that allows us to culture hair follicles and multiply it so we can increase the final number of hairs. So far, we know that it is doable on animals, and there are some reports of its feasibility on human volunteers. Safety has been one of the biggest questions on any research involved with stem cells. Stimulating growth of stem cells has always raised the flag for possible tumor formation. In year 2008, we should witness some results of the phase 3 studies on the procedure. During this year or in next few years, we should have a better understanding of the effectiveness and safety of hair multiplication. I know many of my patients are following hair cloning news carefully. Unfortunately, hair multiplication news has not been very fruitful in last year, but the process is complex and one way or another it will become clear in next few years that we can or cannot use hair multiplication methods in hair restoration surgeries.
Tags: hair cloning, hair multiplication, hair stem cell, intercytex
April 28th, 2008 at 1:53 am
Thanks for the very informative article. However I wonder if that was to be possible in the future, whether that will pose a threat to us hair manufacturers?
April 28th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
You are welcome!
I don’t believe that hair multiplication (cloning) can be a threat to anyone. If you are in hair restoration industry, the biggest threat will be if people do not know what options are out there and do nothing.
We still don’t know much about the cost and the final appearance of hair, produced by hair multiplication techniques. I think not everyone is going to need hair multiplication (cloning).
Most people with hair loss still have a large number of normal hairs in their donor area that can produce great appearance considering the new techniques that we have available now. The patients who may need hair multiplication are the ones with violated donor or weak hair with extensive balding area.
May 21st, 2008 at 7:49 pm
thanks for the serious information. I hope they find the hair cloning or something that generates hair follicles in a near future. My question is if this cloned hair would fall or if it is going to be like the donor hair that doesn´´t fall because of it inmunnity to dht. I would aprecciatte your answer.
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:05 pm
This is a great question and unfortunately we still don’t have a clear answer for it. The problem is that most research projects on this topic have been limited in terms of numbers and long term follow up.
Intercytex is a biotechnology company that probably has the most promising project focusing on hair multiplication now. Unfortunately the details of their research have not been announced quite clearly, but they have announced that they will release some more information in September 2008.
Let’s wait and hope that they clarify some of those issues and answer the questions like yours on the quality and durability of multiplied hair.
Best,
Dr. Mohebi