Scientists may have discovered a cure for baldness.
Stem cells responsible for healing the body are also found in hair follicles – and boffins discovered a protein known as TGF-beta can turn them on or off, making them grow or die.
That means famous baldies like Star Trek’s Jean-Luc Picard, played by Patrick Stewart, could soon have their dead hair follicles brought back to life.
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Biologist Qixuan Wang, of California University, said: “It helps activate some hair follicle cells to produce new life, and later it helps orchestrate apoptosis, the process of cell death.”
If a cell produces too much of the chemical, it dies off.
But if the right amount is produced then new cells are formed.
Mr Wang added: “Even when a hair follicle kills itself it never kills its stem cell reservoir.
“When the surviving stem cells receive the signal to regenerate, they divide, make new cells and develop into a new follicle.”
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Stimulating hair growth by activating follicle stem cells may be possible through further study, experts said.
Ideal wound healing would include the regeneration of hair follicles as human skin is covered in hair, while the ability to control levels of TGF-beta could lead to a cure for baldness.
Mr Wang said: “In science fiction when characters heal quickly from injuries, the idea is that stem cells allowed it.
“In real life research gets us closer to understanding stem cell behaviour, so that we can promote healing.”
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