Lab Grown Hair Follicles for Transplant
From bioengineers at the University of Yokohama: “Pluripotent stem cells derived from mice were used as the starting point for the team’s hair follicles, though this involved some serious problem solving. Morphogenesis is the process through which cells organize and transform into tissues and organs in organisms, but the way this plays out with regard to hair follicles remains poorly understood. So far, scientists have been unable to replicate this process in a laboratory dish. The team took two types of embryonic cells and used a low-concentration a hydrogel to act as support structures called extracellular matrices, steering development of the cells in culture. This altered the arrangement of the two cell types and led to a core of epithelial cells forming, which was in turn surrounded by mesenchymal cells.” MORE
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