Researchers find a way to defeat baldness using a 3D printer
Columbia University has developed a method for creating hair follicles with a 3D printer using collagen and dendritic precursor cells.
Columbia University has developed a method for creating hair follicles with a 3D printer using collagen and dendritic precursor cells.
Columbia University has developed a tissue-engineering and 3D-printing method that can be used to create hair follicles. It is a real rescue from baldness. Scientists were able to grow follicles in the lab and on live rodents.
The printer features long, thin printing elements with an aspect ratio of 100:1. These allow researchers to obtain components essential for building human skin. Using this system, the scientists created a structure of human skin by forming a thin gel layer from collagen and human fibroblasts. Next, a needle-like nozzle came into play. It made it possible to create deep, narrow wells in the gel.
Dendritic precursor cells, which develop into hair follicles, were then seeded into the wells and topped with a cocktail of bioactive factors. This helped them mature into developed hair follicles. The scientists transplanted the resulting skin-like structures onto hairless mice. After 4-6 weeks, growth of structures closely resembling real human hair was already visible at the transplantation sites.
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