Skin with hair follicles regrown in mice

[Crystal dagger]

Ok, first off I am not a spammer. I just thought I'd share this particular article about people who have developed a hydrogel that has enabled the regrowth of skin including hair follicles in mice.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/jhu-itb121311.php

They're going to test in humans and say that because it is likely going to be classified as a decice it will be available in the next few years if it proves to be effective.

Any thoughts?

[Crystal dagger]

Sorry for the typo there, btw. It should have said "classified as a device".

[DallasTreado]

Interesting. Though presumably the skin would have to be wounded first in order for the hair follicles to be regenerated.

[Crystal dagger]

Interesting. Though presumably the skin would have to be wounded first in order for the hair follicles to be regenerated.

Yes, that's true. This would e.g. be great for people with existing scars as they can have them cut out and then when the hydrogel is applied their bodies will be able to regenerate skin with hair in those areas. That is if the tests in humans will be equally succesful as the ones they already did.

This is reminiscent of ACell in a way except this dextran hydrogel seems to be at the very least much more effective, potentially, judging by this recent article.

Of course one shouldn't get ones hopes up too soon but the fact that they have managed to get full skin regeneration with hair and skin oil glands is interesting news in any case. Even if "only" in mice. And Johns Hopkins is a reputable university, right? So again, it seems something genuine to me and not a scam in the making.

Once again, I'm not trying to sell anyone anything nor do I have any other kind of agenda. I'm just sharing information that I thought might be of interest to the people here. With a nickname like Crystal dagger I can see how I might come across as a bit shifty though. haha But I just tried to think of something cool sounding. It actually comes from one of my favorite movies, called Princess Mononoke. Here it is:



If you haven't seen that movie, I'd suggest you watch it as it's really well made.

All the best.

[UK_]

How is this research going? Have they started human trials or still curing poor NW7 mice?

[Crystal dagger]

How is this research going? Have they started human trials or still curing poor NW7 mice?

No human trials yet. Currently they're trying to figure out why the hair was able to grow. Which would indeed be a good thing to know before they start doing human trials. haha

But they're also waiting on funding to enable them to keep working on it. From the NIH(?) and another source financing is still pending last I heard but that was a while ago.

They also said that human trials were still a few years away. But like I said that is if they are able to continue.

Strange situation, one where something that can help human kind may not be developed as fast as it can be because of "financing". Some people might call me "naive" or "stupid" for saying that but it's just what I think. Just like when I heard someone say who worked on a cure for cancer that he didn't do the work to help people but just because he thought it was interesting. The banter in the lab seemed to also be one of the main reasons he enjoyed going to work. Imagine that. haha Anyway, I thought that was a tad disappointing to hear as well.

If I hear anything new about the hydrogel I'll post it here.

All the best,
Crystal dagger

[UK_]

Funding?... FUNDING?!...

They're talking about being able to regenerate the skin of burn victims and they're worried about funding?????? Maybe if we dipped into those trillions we used to bail out the banks who STILL to this date continue to engage in malpractice we could get somewhere.

No doubt some smart-ass conservative corporate c*** sucking wanker will come along with some reply about how their wealth generating activities (objectionable behaviours creating poverty through artificial speculation of commodity prices such as maize) 'trickles down' & creates jobs for the poor.

Just take a moment and think, had the Labour party not introduced minimum wage the working classes would be screwed trying to pay todays living costs on £2.50 per hour, corporations wouldnt "create more jobs", they'd do what they always do - find another way of dodging tax & driving down wages, delayering & shipping off employment to their international slave regions.

Number of FTSE 100 companies operating foreign 'tax havens'?

...98.

[Crystal dagger]

Well, it's safe to say that there are definately unscrupulous people in places they shouldn't be. That's for sure.

One of the worst things I've heard was of someone who wanted to start his own funeral home. He said this to me: "You know, people who have lost a loved one are vulnerable; they are happy as long as the funeral is taken care of well. I'm not saying I intend to take advantage of that...but at the same time I am. haha I mean I can basically overcharge them by a few thousand and it won't matter!". It's just... Evil. That's what it is. It's evil.

But yeah... Back to the people who are working on the possible treatment that will be able to regenerate skin and hair; what they literally said was that they wouldn't be able to continue their work if they didn't get the funding. I don't know how that works exactly but I guess all we can do is hope for the best. It's frustrating to me too.

[PatientlyWaiting]

Mice all around the world are rejoicing at this news. Mice have the most cures for baldness, just about anything works on them. From the looks of it, you can throw water at a bald mouse, and it'll regrow hair. Obviously it won't translate to a cure for humans. If I had a dime for every new discovery about something that regrew mice hair, i'd have enough money saved for 5,000 grafts with Dr. Bernstein or Dr Feller.

[Crystal dagger]

Coincidentally I just heard today that the development of the hydrogel has ended. It's no longer being developed. They still believe that if other people continue it that it can lead to something but because the funding wasn't there they have now stopped.

It's sad.

[Crystal dagger]

Mice all around the world are rejoicing at this news. Mice have the most cures for baldness, just about anything works on them. From the looks of it, you can throw water at a bald mouse, and it'll regrow hair. Obviously it won't translate to a cure for humans. If I had a dime for every new discovery about something that regrew mice hair, i'd have enough money saved for 5,000 grafts with Dr. Bernstein or Dr Feller.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Constantly there are new articles with headlines like "There is a new breakthrough!!!" but few things come to fruition, if anything at all.

[UK_]

This is just insane, how much money goes into investing in companies that peddle womens cosmetics, designer clothing and they cant even get funding for something that has the potential to regrow skin for burn victims?

I dont even care about the hair loss angle right now, this is just insanity, what is wrong with society? There have been so many occasions where a viable treatment has been shelved because of lack of support and funding, hell even NASA have put projects on hold because they're short of cash.

But companies that sell ANYTHING to women seem to be garnering BILLIONS in wealth, what is wrong with this world?

[Crystal dagger]

This is just insane, how much money goes into investing in companies that peddle womens cosmetics, designer clothing and they cant even get funding for something that has the potential to regrow skin for burn victims?

I dont even care about the hair loss angle right now, this is just insanity, what is wrong with society? There have been so many occasions where a viable treatment has been shelved because of lack of support and funding, hell even NASA have put projects on hold because they're short of cash.

But companies that sell ANYTHING to women seem to be garnering BILLIONS in wealth, what is wrong with this world?

I have no idea man. But there is something genuinely wrong when something which is as promising as this isn't funded for whatever reason. The only reason would be that there is something else that is even more promising. But I'd be surprised if that was the case.

It may be true that if research were to continue they'd find that the hydrogel is only effective when used on mice but at the same time they might have stumbled on something that can indeed change the lives of people big time. Full regeneration with skin appendages (hair, sweat glands) is quite something... And rarely seen before if ever.

It's just like the axolotl. Which is some kind of amfibious or amphibious creature. I don't know what the correct spelling is as I'm European. It's a fish but also a land dweller? Anyway, this creature is now being studied extensively by researchers as it's salamander-like in the sense that it can regenerate perfectly without scar formation. So there must be a real, genuine possiblity that findings there can lead to the realisation of treatments for people that can lead to the same results.

Interesting what you said about women's products getting so much cash. haha That is interesting.

I'm going to e-mail the person who was in charge of the hydrogel development and get some more info/confirmation. I'll post here what she said.

[Crystal dagger]

Just thought I'd drop by and say that it seems I have misunderstood and that the hydrogel is still being worked on. If I understood correctly this time they couldn't get funding from NIH nor from the department of defense(?) and are now hoping to fund it further by starting their own small company.

I've e-mailed them today so I'll get back to you and say what they said in their reply.