PEOPLE with a full head of hair may one day be able to donate follicles to
those who are thinning on top. At present, follicles can only be transplanted
from the hairier parts of a person鈥檚 own scalp, as a transplant from another
person may be rejected. But Colin Jahoda at Durham University and his colleagues
have prevented tissue rejection by transferring only part of the follicle.
The researchers took tiny circles of hairy skin from Jahoda鈥檚 scalp and
dissected out the sheath surrounding the bulb at the base of each hair. They
then transplanted the sheaths onto the inner forearm of one of the female
researchers, Amanda Reynolds. Within five weeks, hairs matching those on
Jahoda鈥檚 head had sprouted on Reynolds鈥檚 arm.
Jahoda says that Reynolds did not reject the graft because sheath cells are
unusual in being able to fend off attacks by the immune system. Jahoda now wants
to see whether the hairs are completely normal and if the follicles will
continue to produce hair for the lifetime of the recipient.
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