Human hair follicle cells can be turned into stem cells that may help clone hair for treating hair loss or burns.
The balance between cell renewal and differentiation controls the growth of cancerous cells in mouse skin.
Skin cells can naturally limit the growth of cancerous changes by balancing cell renewal and differentiation.
75 citations,
March 1998 in “Journal of Investigative Dermatology” The transgene likely activated an oncogene or interrupted a tumor suppressor gene, causing melanoma in mice.
351 citations,
February 2010 in “Nature Cell Biology” Basal cell carcinoma mostly starts from cells in the upper skin layers, not hair follicle stem cells.