Hope for Baldness Cure as Scientists Trigger Hair Growth with a New 3D Printing Technique

By: | July 24th, 2019

Image courtesy : Christiano lab/Columbia University Irving Medical Center

All people – both men and women – lose hair as they grow older.  A huge industry has sprung up offering remedies for hair loss but it doesn’t get you too far.

Though, hair transplant surgery is quite successful but it has its own drawback. It relies on donor hair follicles being redistributed from one part of the body to another which limits the effectiveness of surgery.  

Growth of synthetic human hair follicles has proven challenging and elusive so far

However, with the revolution of micro 3D printing, scientists may now have just discovered to grow human hair follicles in a dish, without the need for implantation into skin.

Using 3D-Printing to Stop Hair Loss

Researchers from the Columbia University Irving Medical Center have used the unique capability of 3D printers to create a more natural micro-environment using unique plastic mold to grow new hair follicles and stop hair loss. These molds stimulate hair follicle growth via tiny extensions that are about half a millimeter wide.

These hair follicles could generate unlimited source of new hair follicles to address hair thinning and baldness that affects billions around globe. 

Nidhi Goyal

Nidhi is a gold medalist Post Graduate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

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