Category: Hair Cloning

Hi Dr. Rassman,
I was searching the web on the current state of hair cloning and came across an article from WebMD. From the article, Dr. Washenik talks about how hair cloning will be ready in 3 or 4 years. What’s your take on that? Thanks

Dr. Washenik is a reliable source. Like me, he is overly optimistic on some things, but I believe that his timeline have not panned out in the past, so I would expect the same for the future. I do believe that hair cloning will come, but because of legislative challenges, I would doubt that we would be allowed to offer it without FDA and government policy changes, which will take years. The priority of organ cloning must go to the people who are at risk to life (liver, heart, and brain problems) well before the government will allow it for its cosmetic value (in my opinion, of course).

I am constantly asked for information and news on what is coming down the pike on hair cloning. The following link will take you to a news release from the Associated Press, published yesterday. Please read through the lines; nothing is about to happen tomorrow.

• Yahoo News: Scientists Seek New Treatments for Balding

I’m curious how many years away you are from being able to implant cloned follicles?

I’m a 28 year-old with significant thinning in the temple region and mild thinning elsewhere. I have been taking Propecia for about 3 years trying to delay the need for a transplant. So far, it’s working somewhat. My hope (fingers crossed) is that if I can stave off the inevitable for a couple more years, you’ll have the technology to clone my follicles. I’m nervous about donor area scars and the ability to create density. I assume that when you’re able to clone follicles, you will have solved my biggest worries.

Thanks for you help.

The topic of hair cloning comes up quite often, but there really isn’t anything new to report. Similar questions I’ve previously answered in this blog can be found in the hair cloning section.

I do not expect that hair cloning will be available for commercial use in the next 10 years. The political problems alone might take that long even if we had the solution in our hands today. As it presently exists, the science may be 10 years away and that could be an optimistic view. For you to wait until cloning becomes available will mean that you will have to live with your progressive balding for as long as it takes. Most men want hair when they are younger, so going bald may not be a good answer for you.

Today, I met with a man who had a single hair transplant in 1998. He was fairly bald (Class 6 pattern) and had amazing results (unusually good hair). He told me that the hair transplant was the best investment he has ever made. Had he waited for cloning, he would not have been able to enjoy the hair these past 7 years.

Hello Doctor.
I have visited the site you posted, www.clonemyhair.com. Within the site I read alot of information on Prof. Carl Bazan, M.D., MTTS. Have you ever heard of this Doctor before. I am asking you because I have heard alot of good things about you front the Bald Truth. In his site, http://www.itzan.com/, he claims that he is doing Dp-Hair Multiplication. My question is, have you ever heard of this doctor and this procedure. Is there any light to his claim?
Thank you.

Hair Multiplication is not a proven technique. There is no evidence that it works reliably. Whenever I hear claims that are unsubstantiated by any scientific or objective results, I am skeptical, to say the least.

I am constantly asked about hair cloning, and when I respond to a question where I suggest that cloning is not close at hand, I often get attacked for that view. I am outspoken and critical of over-simplification. There is too much sensationalism — setting up false expectations targeting desperate men who then think that the answers to hair cloning, stem cell treatment, and hair multiplication are around the corner.

The July 2005 issue of Scientific American magazine has a lengthy feature that puts stem cells and cloning into a comprehensive overview for those of you who want to know what is and what is not at hand. Though it doesn’t directly pertain to cloning hair, it is not a far reach to understand hair cloning after reading this series of articles.

• The Future of Stem Cells

The interest last week on our piece addressing hair cloning was very high. I would like to call your attention to a recent breakthrough that has just been reported on gene therapy. Scientists hope that by getting at the genetic roots of hair loss, they will eventually spawn better baldness treatments or a cure. This is a distinctly different approach than cloning a hair and more in line to the approach being used to cure cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and the like. The focus of such work is to identify the defect that causes the problem we wish to fix and then to develop a drug, enzyme blocker, or another approach to address the problem. There are many baby steps taking us to that cure and Dr. Markus M Nothen of the University of Bonn in Germany identified an androgen receptor gene on the ‘X’ Chromosome which is contributed by the mother in setting a person up for balding. The androgen receptor gene helps govern the workings of male sex hormones (androgens), such as testosterone.

Though these hormones promote the growth of body and facial hair, on the scalp excess androgens may cause hair loss. Dr. Nothen believes that this is only one of possibly many genes that trigger the balding process.

Reference:

• Mum’s genes blamed for male hair loss
• Going Bald: Thanks Mom!

It has been about six weeks since I’ve posted an entry about hair cloning, but I’ll revist the topic again because I get quite a few requests for information. People generally want to believe that cloning is just around the corner.

Why can’t we clone hair, since scientists can clone a sheep? When can we expect to get a cloning treatment and how will it be done?

When it comes to cloning, hair follicles are in a tough spot. They are too complex to be simply cultured because follicles are not whole organisms like Dolly the sheep. The focus of cloning for hair is to move cells that can stimulate growth from a normal hair follicle, to an abnormal (genetically impaired) hair follicle. Although this is not actually cloning, the growth stimulating cells from the normal hair follicle can potentially be multiplied in a Petri dish and then moved to the area of genetically impaired hair. Some of these cells are capable of turning themselves into hair, bone or muscles and this has been shown in what I will call ‘uncontrolled experiments’. Because people who are balding always have some non-genetically impaired normal hair, we do not need a person to person transfer.

There are problems that are yet to be solved. The primary problem is to identify which cells are to be moved. Other problems are once the cells have been identified. We must ask, “Can we successfully create enough of these cells to work with, and is there certainty that the cells that are created and moved will maintain their capability to stimulate growth in the genetically impaired hair follicles?” It is anticipated that whatever process we come up with, there will be a type of medical ‘soup’ which the doctors will inject into the genetically balding areas of the scalp. When they are injected into the balding scalp, they must consistently be able to stimulate hair growth. Unfortunately, the success of this entire process has been relatively low so far. There have been some successes, but these have not been replicable, suggesting that we do not have control of the process. We also have to be 100% sure that this process is safe. Do we know that these cells will not produce a cancer or other problem? Safety and effectiveness is critical for any FDA approval and it will take years for this to be worked out. Don’t hold your breath, no matter what you hear!

For more information, Dr. Bernstein wrote an article about hair cloning in our 2004 NHI Newsletter, available here. Adobe Reader is required to view the file.

To read more newsletters, medical publications, and the PDF version of The Patient’s Guide to Hair Restoration, please see the NHI Medical Publications page.