Raising hairs

In 2011, researchers, including Cheng-Ming Chuong and George Cotsarelis, were investigating stem cell treatments for baldness. Chuong's study highlighted the role of activator and inhibitor signaling in hair growth, while Cotsarelis found that balding men had similar stem cell populations to non-balding men, but early progenitor cells were reduced by over 80%. A trial involving 25 men with male pattern baldness showed that injecting a hair-stimulating complex resulted in the growth of 25 new hairs near the injection site, which continued to grow for at least two years. No safety issues were reported. Another company, Intercytex, was working on isolating dermal papilla cells to stimulate hair growth, but faced challenges in growing the cells.