Cloning
There are currently two methods of cloning being developed by researchers. The first is called in-vivo cloning. It involves cutting the hair follicle at different levels to produce more than one follicle. Dr. Kim from Korea has made significant contributions in this method. He has found that by cutting the follicle midway at the stem cell level, that two follicles can be reproduced from one. This new growing hair is thinner in diameter than the normal hair follicle. The cutting must be made very accurately at a very specific level, transversely, to produce very specific stem cells.
The other cloning method being researched is called in-vitro cloning. In this method the stem cells from the hair follicle are taken and grown in a petri dish. In this way new duplicate cells are cloned. Later these new cells can be inserted back into the scalp instead of follicles with hair. It is believed that hair may be able to grow from the cells themselves. There are five or six centres in the world trying to perfect this technique. The perfection of this technique of cloning would mean that even the man or woman with very few hairs could have thousands of cells replicated in a petri dish. From a single or only a few hairs thousands of hair cells can be grown in a lab that can later be injected to grow hair.
Look for developments in cloning techniques. The next major innovation in hair loss treatment will undoubtedly come from cloning research. The future is bright.