London, April 30 (IANS) New hopes of a cure for baldness have been sparked after Japanese researchers claimed to have successfully grown hair on hairless mice, The Independent reported Monday.
Scientists from the Tsuji Lab Research Institute for Science and Technology at the Tokyo University of Science successfully implanted follicles created from stem cells onto the hairless rodents.
The creatures eventually grew hair, which continued regenerating in normal growth cycles after old hairs fell out.
When stem cells are grown into tissues or organs, they usually need to be extracted from embryos. However, professor Takashi Tsuji, who led the team, found hair follicles can be grown with adult stem cells.
It is now hoped that people could possibly use their own cells for implants that will give them their hair back, the newspaper added.
