No, you cannot freeze hair growth itself. However, you can freeze the stem cells associated with hair follicles for potential future use.
Understanding Hair Stem Cells
Hair growth relies on stem cells located in the hair follicle. These cells are responsible for generating new hair strands. The reference states:
"With this innovative approach we pluck hair follicles, isolate their stem cells, and subsequently multiply and transform them into different types of stem cells. Much like cord blood banking, individuals can freeze and store these versatile stem cells for future applications."
This means instead of freezing hair growth directly, scientists can extract these stem cells, multiply them, and freeze them for storage. The analogy to cord blood banking is helpful: just as cord blood is saved for later use in medical treatments, hair follicle stem cells can be frozen for potential future therapies or research.
What Freezing Hair Stem Cells Does Not Do:
- Halt current hair growth: Freezing stem cells does not stop your existing hair from growing. It focuses on preserving the potential for future hair growth.
- Guarantee hair growth: Frozen stem cells might not guarantee the regrowth of hair or that the treatment will be successful. More research is needed.
How Freezing Hair Stem Cells Works:
- Extraction: Hair follicles are plucked from the scalp.
- Isolation: Stem cells are isolated from the extracted follicles.
- Multiplication: The extracted stem cells are multiplied in a lab.
- Transformation: The multiplied stem cells can be transformed into different types of stem cells, making them versatile for various uses.
- Storage: These transformed stem cells are frozen and stored.
Potential Future Uses:
- Hair Restoration: In the future, these frozen stem cells could be thawed and used to regrow hair in areas where it has been lost.
- Other Medical Treatments: The transformed stem cells might be used for different medical treatments, as stem cells are known to have regenerative properties.
Key Takeaway:
While you can't "freeze" the process of hair growth, you can preserve the stem cells responsible for hair growth for future possibilities. This technology is akin to storing stem cells found in cord blood.
