subject: Hair Transplant Cloning: The Next Hair Transplant Technology [print this page] Hair Transplant Cloning: The Next Hair Transplant Technology
Hairs transplants are the most permanent solution to balding men and women. By using hair from the back and temples and transplanting these to the bald area, you can put your hair back in no time. But the problem is, the transplant is not suited for patients with severe baldness. They need more hair, and putting the extra hairs is not enough. So if hair transplant cloning would be fully developed, it will be their solution.
There are two different methods of hair transplant, the FUE and the Strip Harvesting. Strip Harvesting works by cutting a large strip of hair, tissues and skin on the back scalp. This large strip will be cut into small units which are called as Follicular Unit Grafts. Then the grafts are to be inserted into the bald skin. FUE or Follicular Unit Extraction works by plucking the hairs one by one at the back. And then such hair will be placed into the bald area. Both are effective; however, for severe baldness, these methods are not enough. Hair transplant could only cover 25% to 50% of the balding areas; if the doctor adds more hair, then he must extract the hair at the back, which will lead to trauma or the permanent balding of that area. That is why scientists need to find new ways to advance hair transplant procedures, and cloning is one of the possible solutions.
Cloning is the process of making another organism. Scientists did that many years before with a sheep, and the cloned sheep is named Dolly. Imagine what these cloned hair can do to balding people. Since the amount of hair is no more limited, people can enjoy a more painless surgery.
The problem that the scientists face is how to clone a single hair follicle or root and multiply it. Hair follicle is not a living organism but a set of cells, and therefore scientists must find a way to copy that growing function. Scientists found a possible solution by growing hair first in a donor skin and multiply these and later, this will be used to implant to the balding area. Another solution would be by splitting the hair in half and this one hair strand will become two. But the good news is, the strands will go by your natural hair color regardless of how they are attained.
