Dr Richard Chaffoo, a medical adviser to Stemson Therapeutics, the group behind the research said that the cure could improve the lives of millions.
He said that hair loss deeply affected lives of many people, adding: ”A significant part of my practice involves both men and women who are seeking solutions to their hair loss.’
The research consisted of human stem cells being combined with mice cells before they were attached to a 3D biodegradable scaffold made from the same material as dissolvable stitches. This aided to control the direction of hair growth and aided the stem cells to integrate into the skin.
Alexey Terskik, of Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in California said that this new protocol... ”overcomes key technological challenges that kept our discovery from real-world use.
"Now we have a robust, highly controlled method for generating natural-looking hair that grows through the skin using an unlimited source of human iPSC-derived dermal papilla cells. This is a critical breakthrough in the development of cell-based hair-loss therapies and the regenerative medicine field,” he added.
The research was presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research in Los Angeles, where it received a Merit Award.