3D Printed Comb to Treat Hair Loss

An interesting week in hair loss, with the highlight being a 3D printed comb to regrow hair.

3D Printed Comb to Treat Hair Loss

— An update on the 3D printed comb to treat hair loss from Technion University in Israel. The user injects the comb device with an enzyme that triggers bacteria on the scalp to secrete a substance that breaks down dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Both the comb and syringe are designed to be reusable.

Note that the DHT-inactivating enzyme is 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3α-HSD), which I covered in detail on this blog. More information can be found on Technion’s project overview page.

3D Printing of hair fibers. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (US) have devised an groundbreaking new method for creating lifelike hair fibers. The only requirement is an inexpensive fused deposition modeling (FDM) printer.

— I discussed the important work of the Rendl Lab and Dr. Michael Rendl a few months ago. Several weeks ago, it was announced that Dr. Rendl’s team have created an online database that will allow researchers to study the interactions between hair follicles, stem cells and their surrounding environment. This database is called Hair-GEL (gene expression library). It is worth playing around with this database even if like myself you do not understand or recognize the names of most of the relevant genes. This sort of open source project is extremely encouraging.

— Yet one more positive report on Adenosine and hair. Make sure to read my post on Shiseido and Adenosine from last year.

Christopher1 on Hairsite has been testing out topical Tofacitinib to tackle his hair loss (as well as his vitiligo per another of his posts). Worth bookmarking that thread, but do not emulate him. Too risky in my opinion.

And now on to medical items of interest:

— A great new face transplant success story about ex-firefighter Patrick Hardison. He also got new hair and I wonder if it will grow as long as the original stellar hair from the donor?  The most interesting quote in the article is the following:

“Of the roughly 30 patients who have received partial or full face transplants, Rodriguez said some three to five patients have died after rejection.”

I was unaware of this fact and had assumed that nobody ever died from these procedures. I thought the worst case scenario was that the new face would be rejected (without any death). Or that in the long run someone would have a higher chance of getting cancer and other medical problems due to taking the anti-rejection/ immunosuppressive medications for years. Hopefully these death rates become zero as scientists gain more knowledge with each new patient. And perhaps in the future it might also no longer be necessary to take immunosuppressants.

The heart is just a pump. My father recently needed to get two stents put into an artery after a heart attack, so this subject is especially interesting to me.

— Interesting CRISPR related articles are now being published on an almost daily basis and it is hard for me to only pick 1 or 2 every month. The best one was published today and includes interviews with some of the world’s leading geneticists. The New Yorker had a good one this week titled “Gene Hackers“. Editas Medicine will commence CRISPR gene editing trials to treat a rare form of blindness in 2017.

— And finally, a new TED video on DNA editing from CRISPR co-pioneer Jennifer Doudna.

9th World Congress for Hair Research

Last year, I wrote a post about the 9th Congress for Hair Research that will take place in Miami, Florida this year from November 18-21. At the time, the website for this congress was already up, albeit a bit barren.

The most interesting thing that I saw and mentioned in last year’s blog post was the fact that the three people in charge of this conference were all women despite the fact that men suffer from hair loss far more frequently than women. Especially when it comes to major (high norwood scale) hair loss. In any event, it is no longer surprising for me to read about female hair loss research and I am grateful for each new scientist.

9th World Congress for Hair Research: “Reflect, Rejuvenate and Regenerate”

I am certain that this will be the most heavily attended Congress for Hair Research to date, just like the recent 23rd ISHRS Meeting was the most heavily attended one to date. Worldwide hair transplant procedure totals have also been breaking new records every year recently as middle class populations with expendable incomes increase (and as hair loss rates in general also increase in my as yet unproven opinion).

Among the interesting things that I have seen on the current version of the Congress website include:

  • The Final Program Book. A must skim through.
  • The theme/slogan of “Reflect, Rejuvenate, and REGENERATE.” It is encouraging that they have capitalized the word “REGENERATE” and this hopefully portends favorably to the focus of the conference.
  • While the topmost Platinum level sponsor (Women’s Rogaine) is a huge disappointment since they are not selling any new hair loss technology or product, it is encouraging that Samumed is a Silver level sponsor and Kythera Biopharmaceuticals is a Bronze level sponsor. Proctor & Gamble is a Gold level sponsor and their bio seems to imply that they are there to primarily promote their shampoos (which are not even among the best hair loss shampoos in the world).
  • Also encouraging that Shiseido and Kerastem are contributing sponsors.
  • The number of hair loss researchers presenting at this Congress seems to be a record high, although this remains to be verified.
  • A majority of the big name companies and researchers (Christiano, Cotsarelis, Garza, Jahoda, Tsuji and many more) are presenting at this Congress.
  • The next 10th Congress for Hair Research will be in Japan, the current global epicenter of hair loss research and clinical trials due to that country’s favorable new laws.

There are way too many interesting presentations to list here separately. Topics ranging from PGD2 inhibition to Wnt/β-catenin signaling to progenitor cells to wounding are all covered. Cell based regenerative therapies are not surprisingly well covered. There are a few presentations on JAK inhibitors and alopecia areata from new research centers. I am also interested in the update on topical Finasteride product P-3074 as I would love to stop taking oral Finasteride next year. An update on Samumed’s topical drug SM04554 is also something to look forward to.

Which presentations are you looking forward to the most?