An interesting branch of hair transplantation that has been surfacing over the last year to two in the media is what is called hair cloning. The idea behind hair cloning, which is a subset of hair transplantation, is that donor hair follicles are taken from an area near the back of the lower scalp for the purpose of duplicating. The hair follicles in most men above the nape of the neck on the back of the scalp are not as prone to follicular deterioration by DHT, and therefore are more resistant to the process of male pattern baldness. Scientists have yet to discover why hair follicles from the nape of the neck in men are resistant to the effects of MPB, but a recent article on the hair loss gene might begin to shed some answers for those in the medical field. The idea of moving non-affected hairs from the back of the scalp is often referred to as ‘donor dominance.’

In the hair cloning process, the idea is that follicular units are taken from that area, cultivated in a laboratory to a large population, and then implanted to the areas of the scalp where hair is most needed. Part of the process is to allow the natural cells in the body to do what they know how to do - replicate themselves. This process is performed much of the time in the medical field.

How Long Until this is Feasible?

An article at Healthology talks with Dr. Angela Christiano of Columbia University and Dr. Animesh Sinha of Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Christiano suggests that this technology is still more than two years off, and that much testing needs to be in the way of medical viability, donor hair direction (hairs in the back tend to grow in a different direction often that hair on the frontal / crown areas of the scalp)

Men suffering from pattern baldness could not see this technology arrive soon enough. In a field with a sea of options, and many considerations in terms of hair loss treatments (age, hair loss severity, age of onset, medications) a viable solution that uses your own donor hair and does not require oral or topical treatment would be welcome by most men and women.

Even if it meant, we needed to take out a third mortgage to do it.