Is this the end of premature baldness?

Millions of men and women who suffer from premature baldness or hair loss could soon be able to regain their original lustrous locks - by cloningtheir remaining hair in the laboratory, research suggests.

The new technique, known as “follicular cell implantation”, has already shownpositive results in continuing clinical trials on human beings. The work,being carried out by a British team, is being hailed as a major advance inhair restoration and is backed by a £1.9 million government grant.

The cell therapy has the potential to provide a limitless supply of anindividual’s hair to replace that lost because of burns, cancer treatment orsimply the onset of age, and could be available to patients within fiveyears.

The latest results of the Phase II trial, presented at a conference of leadinghair replacement surgeons in Rome, suggest that the technique can increasehair count in at least two thirds of patients after six months, and four outof five if the scalp is stimulated beforehand through gentle abrasions thatencourage hair growth.