Fear not if you are balding...
Adult mouse skin found to contain stem cells that can generate skin and hair!
"The researchers took individual cells and grew them up into hundreds of thousands of identical copies, then grafted them into a wound on the back of a hairless mouse. The cells grew to form patches of fur, including skin, follicles, hair, and oil-producing glands."
This work "...is the first to prove that the cells are true stem cells, with the capacity to form new tissues. It's hoped the discovery will lead to treatments for baldness and burns."
See: "Hair-raising stem cells confirmed in mouse skin." By Helen Pilcher. News@Nature, 02 Sep 2004, writing about Blanpain C., Lowry W. E., Geoghegan A., Polak L. and Fuchs E. (2004). Cell, 118: 635 - 648.
1 comment:
"Fear not if you are balding?" Hello, so mice skin cells have stem cells. It's a long way yet to reassuring humans about baldness!
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