Hair Loss Cure 2020

A very interesting article that explores the difference between hair rejuvenation and hair cloning (or hair multiplication) was published yesterday. The interview itself took place “a little while ago”.

The article author interviewed Dr. Bessam Farjo (highly optimistic), Dr. Sara Wasserbauer (optimistic) and Dr. Antonella Tosti (more cautious). Both Dr. Farjo and Dr. Wasserbauer are associated with HairClone (UK), a company that I have covered on this blog since 2016. Currently, HairClone is only banking your hair follicles for future cell cloning. They aim to begin “cell expansion services” in 2022.

Hair Rejuvenation of Dermal Papilla Cells versus Hair Cloning

What I find interesting in this article is that for the first time that I can recall, a clear distinction is made between hair cloning and hair rejuvenation. The latter is undertaken via the “hair cloning” of dermal papillae and injection into thinning scalps.

According to Dr. Sara Wasserbauer, actual hair cloning (i.e. making a brand new follicle in the lab that then regenerates itself in a regular hair cycle) is still 10-20 year away. However:

“What is imminent is the cloning of dermal papillae cells, which serves to thicken existing thinning hair.”

Dr. Wasserbauer is discussing Hairclone’s technology here. Some would still call the replication of dermal papilla cells in the lab to be hair cloning or hair multiplication. However, in this article, they imply a better phrase to be “hair rejuvenation” or even “hair regeneration”.

Dr. Farjo (UK) thinks that HairClone’s procedure could be available to patients as early as the end of 2022/beginning of 2023.
Dr. Wasserbauer (US) thinks 2025/2026 is more likely, “barring any further Covid-related delays”.

However, Dr. Tosti seems skeptical:

Some experts, however, doubt the imminence of this technology. “The idea is there — to introduce stem cells into the follicle to increase the population of dermal papillae in order to grow thicker hair — but this is not happening right now,” says Dr. Tosti. “The published papers didn’t show that. It’s far from being close in clinical studies.”

One caveat is that the UK has favorable regulations that I have mentioned several times in the past. So this autologous cell injection procedure can be tested on patients in clinical settings under doctor supervision. With no published papers or clinical trials necessary.

According to the article, the most suitable candidates will be those who have not gone completely bald yet. It seems like even if you have some remaining hair in the permanent donor area, the procedure might be the wrong choice if you are completely bald in the rest of your scalp.

In general, you can expect significant thickening of existing thinning hair if HairClone’s procedure works. Perhaps they can improve on the results with more experience and also help Norwood 6 level bald men down the road?

Repeat Cell Injection Treatments Required

Note that HairClone’s procedure may be necessary up to three times over the course of a 10-year period. This is because male pattern hair loss and female pattern hair loss are both progressive conditions.

Because this procedure is not yet US FDA approved, the stem cell injections will initially have to take place in the UK. The FDA will possibly grant approval to store tissue at US storage facilities sometime in 2022.

The combined cost for banking, storage and injection will likely be on par with that of a hair transplant.

On rare occasions, I write about lesser known people doing something extremely interesting or unique in the hair loss world. In many cases, this has involved writing about blog readers testing or outlining their own theories and concoctions to treat hair loss. In other cases, I wanted to support hard working sincere people involved in the hair loss world for many years with no financial driving force.

Update: June 23, 2025

HairDAO now develops its own hair loss treatments via its own lab. It sells these new treatments along with existing hair loss products via anagen.xyz.

February 24, 2022

HairDAO: Autonomous Blockchain Technology to Cure Hair Loss

This time, I want to discuss a new blockchain based Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) called HairDAO. It was initiated by two hair loss sufferers. Ultimately, this venture might turn out to be meaningless (or worse, turn into a scam as more money becomes involved). But so far, I am impressed with what I have read and feel like it holds potential.

Also, as far as I know, blockchain based concepts are very transparent. They are extremely unlikely to turn into any kind of pyramid or ponzi scheme type fraud. Nevertheless, proceed with caution! For now, this is just something unique of interest to myself.

Biotechnology and health related DAOs are becoming increasingly common (e.g., VitaDAO for longevity and anti-aging research). See this list of other science related DAOs. I like VitaDAO’s slogan: “We’re democratising longevity.”

VitaDAO’s Discord is fully active and you can join them to get a better idea of the future of HairDAO’s Discord (my invite link expired). Also, the #VITA token is already being traded on the public blockchain. Another interesting one is LabDAO, which is in pre-launch mode, just like HairDAO.

Key Highlights of HairDAO

HairDAO will be fully owned and operated on the Ethereum public blockchain.
The two co-founders of this initiative are Andrew Bakst and Andrew Verbinnen. Both suffer from hair loss and treat it using medication.
Their Whitepaper that just came out earlier this month is well worth a complete read. It covers many aspects of the current issues in the hair loss world when it comes to lack of funding for the most relevant treatments and research.
The only token held by the Treasury at launch will be the $HAIR ERC-20 token. Most likely, it will be released before the end of 2022.
There will be 1 billion $HAIR tokens minted at launch. These will be controlled by a temporary Gnosis Safe Multi-Signature Wallet.
Follow them on Twitter if you find this concept interesting. Or on Discord if you are really a fan. FYI — HLC2020 also has its own Discord hair loss chat.

Per HairDAO’s Whitepaper, besides outright purchase, the $HAIR token can also be earned through: the provision of capital and operational work; the generation of intellectual property; the operation of manufacturing facilities; clinical trial participation; and regulatory advisement.

Note: I am not sure how this will all work. My intuition tells me that these kinds of co-operative community based projects are part of the long-term attraction of blockchain technology.

How will a DAO Help Hair Loss Research?

Upon first glance, it seems confusing as to how HairDAO can speed up hair loss research. Especially since most people assume that sales of tokens such as $HAIR are just to make money in a similar vein to stock trading or cryptocurrency coin trading.

However, the aim of a DAO is to collectively fund (or invest) in researchers and institutions via community discussion and voting. HairDAO will do this via its Discord channel where it has channels for proposals (and working groups in future). Perhaps they can rapidly raise funds for Dr. Tsuji and Riken as their first priority?

The chart below from their White Paper gives a general idea of how this will work.

HairDAO Hair Loss Cure Funding — HairDAO — Hair Loss Research Investment. Source: White Paper.

Our primary goal is to solve hair loss. My personal opinion is that we need to deploy capital in a profitable way so that people can make money from holding our tokens and also solve a cause they care about. Otherwise we are just a charity for hair loss and I think profit-driven people are more likely to find solutions to problems. But ultimately the community will decide what is best — Andrew V.

I agree with the above quote. Moreover, people who believe very strongly in charity and volunteer work are less likely to be involved in a cosmetic/ beauty/appearance related field such as hair loss.

Disclaimer

Note that I am not being paid in any way whatsoever to write about HairDAO. I am not even likely to purchase the #HAIR token when it comes out unless I see some real upside in other related biotech area tokens. Nevertheless, it is great to finally see blockchain technology and the hair loss world finally intersecting.

Perhaps HairDAO can also be used for the popular “Group Buys” and new hair loss compound experimentation down the road?

Sooner or later, blockchain technology will become massive and much more than just cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. I remember how I got interested in Twitter in its earliest days and kept thinking that it held much greater potential. It took a decade before it really took off.

Hair Rejuvenation versus Hair Cloning