Technology

Dermatologists have learned how to grow hair bulbs using a 3D printer

The first hair transplant operations were performed.in 1939, soldiers of World War II who suffered from severe burns became patients of dermatologists of that time. Since then, at least two methods of hair follicles transplantation from one part of the body to another have appeared, but the main problem of the technology remained topical - the operation could be performed only to those people who have where to get their hair. Now the situation has changed, because researchers from Columbia University for the first time in history managed to grow hair follicles in the laboratory.

New technology has great promise, andafter commercialization will be able to return luxurious hair to millions of men and women from all over the world. The number of donor hair bulbs will no longer play any role, because under laboratory conditions they can be created now in an infinite number. Moreover, hair transplant operations in the future may not be useful at all - with a large number of human hair samples, manufacturers of alopecia medications will be able to conduct more experiments and develop more effective products.

Scientists have grown artificial hair follicles

New technology of growing hair bulbsconsists of several parts. At the very beginning, researchers using 3D printing created a three-dimensional structure from biocompatible plastic - it served as a vessel for the growth of hair follicles and recreated a microenvironment suitable for the growth of living cells. Each canal with a diameter of 0.5 millimeter stimulated the formation of bulbs, which were subsequently placed on grown skin cells.

This kind of design was processedsignaling molecules that suppressed signaling pathways called JAK-STAT. From previous studies, scientists know that they keep the bulbs in an inactive state, but due to molecular processing, they are activated and the hair follicles begin to grow.

Researchers believe that with the help of technologythey can create whole hair follicles farms. The resulting nets with hair can later be transplanted to the scalp, thereby returning hair to bald people. The result of such a transplant can be seen in the video below.

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Sometimes quite unexpected means are saved from baldness. For example, in 2016, researchers from Brazil found that medications for treating rheumatoid arthritis are excellent for this.

We advise you to read:

Alopecia patients have their hair back with a rheumatoid arthritis drug.

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