Hair expert hoping to tackle baldness with ‘frozen hair’ technology

Baldies could get a fresh new barnet by keeping frozen hair in the lab for transplants.

A scientist is working on the “holy grail” of artificially sprouting a new thatch using a handful of healthy hairs.

Dr Angela Christiano believes it will soon be possible for anyone wanting to avoid hair loss to be able to turn to their stash and implant a never-ending supply when needed.

Her mission started after she was diagnosed with alopecia areata, which leads to sudden patchy hair loss.

She said the problem with current transplants is they rely on moving hair from other parts of your body.

New Yorker Dr Christiano said: “Conventional hair transplants are relocation. There’s no net gain in the number of follicles."

She added: “I spend most of my time now trying instead to engineer a proto-hair, an actual structure that could be implanted into the scalp…

“Not just moving, but making more – that’s the holy grail.

“We could start with just a handful of hairs from the back of the head and use them to grow a population of stem cells that could be kept frozen indefinitely and called up when you need more hair.”

According to the NHS, “losing your hair is not usually anything to be worried about, but it can be upsetting”.

The website adds: “It's normal to lose hair. We can lose between 50 and 100 hairs a day, often without noticing.

“Hair loss is not usually anything to be worried about, but occasionally it can be a sign of a medical condition.

“Some types of hair loss are permanent, like male and female pattern baldness. This type of hair loss usually runs in the family.”

Treatment options for balding includes steroid injections, artificial hair transplants and light treatment.

But apparently, “no treatment is 100% effective”.

If you have concerns see a specialist or doctor for advice. You can also get more information on the NHS website here.

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