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The prospective treatment of hair multiplication/hair cloning, which extracts self-replenishing follicle stem cells, multiplies them many times over in the lab, and microinjects them into the scalp, has been shown to work in mice, and is currently under development, expected by some scientists to be available to the public in 2009-2015. Subsequent versions of the treatment are expected by some scientists to be able to cause these follicle stem cells to simply signal the surrounding hair follicles to rejuvenate.
In 2006, UK biotechnology firm Intercytex announced they have successfully tested a method of removing hair follicles from the back of the neck, multiplying them and then re-implanting the cells into the scalp. The initial testing resulted in 70% of male patients re-growing hair. This treatment method is expected to be available to the public by 2009.
In January of 2007, Italian stem cell researchers say they've come up with a new technique for curing baldness. Pierluigi Santi of a Genoa clinic said stem cells could be used to "mulitiply" hair roots. He said the clinic would be ready to perform its first hair transplants on priority patients- those who have lost their hair in fires or other accidents- within a few months. After that, they'll open their doors to paying customers. Santi's approach works by splitting roots and growing new follicles.
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