L’Oreal working on 3D printed hair follicles that grow NEW strands

October 8, 2016

L’Oréal is working on the tech with a French bioprinting firm
The 3D printed hair follicles could be used to grow new hair
If perfected, the process could eventually be much cheaper and faster than hair transplants

Libby Plummer For Mailonline

Published:
05:20 EST, 7 October 2016

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Updated:
05:53 EST, 7 October 2016

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A new 3D printing technique could finally result in a cure for baldness.

While hair transplants, such as those had by England footballer Wayne Rooney, are possible, they involving a painstakingly long and expensive process.

New technology being developed by L’Oréal could lead to 3D printing of new hair follicles that are capable of sprouting new hair.

While many people, like actor Patrick Stewart (pictured) wear their baldness with pride, for others, it is something that they wish to ‘fix’. New technology being developed by L’Oréal could lead to 3D printing of new hair follicles that are capable of sprouting new hair

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The printer fires a laser at a cartridge containing ‘ink’.

Rather than the ink usually used, this substance is in face a suspension of cells taken from alopecia patients after hair surgery.

The lasers sends a stream of these cells on to a substrate that is covered in nutrients to help the cells grow.

By doing this layer by layer, scientists believe they could grown something similar to a hair follicle.

The cosmetics firm has teamed up with French bioprinting company Poietis in order to develop the groundbreaking technology.

Current tissue engineering techniques are limited in terms of cell patterns.

However, the two companies believe that they can crack the process needed to bioprint a hair follicle.

The technique, developed by Poietis, uses laser-assisted bioprinting tech to produce biological tissue and can ‘position cells in 3D with extremely high cellular resolution (on the order of ten microns) and cellular viability (over 95 per cent)’, according to a statement from L’Oréal.

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‘Our partnership with L’Oréal should lead to the development of innovative applications in terms of tissue engineering,’ adds Bruno Brisson, general manager and chief business officer.

The printer fires a laser at a cartridge containing ‘ink’.

While hair transplants, such as those had by England footballer Wayne Rooney, are possible, they involving a painstakingly long and expensive process. New technology being developed by L’Oréal could lead to 3D printing of new hair follicles that are capable of sprouting new hair

Rather than the ink usually used, this substance is in face a suspension of cells taken from alopecia patients after hair surgery.

The lasers sends a stream of these cells on to a substrate that is covered in nutrients to help the cells grow.

By doing this layer by layer, scientists believe they could grown something similar to a hair follicle.

The living biological tissue created is then matured for around three weeks before it can be used in tests.

A 3D printer (pictured) is used to layer micro-drops of bioinks using a laser beam. The living biological tissue created is then matured for around three weeks before it can be used in tests

Using the French cosmetics firm’s expertise in hair biology, the partnership believes it will eventually be able to produce a hair follicle than can actually sprout hair.

‘For L’Oréal, the combination of our respective areas of expertise opens up the possibility of previously unheard of achievements in the field of hair.

‘This research partnership is very stimulating for the Advanced Research teams,’ explains José Cotovio, Director of Predictive Methods and Models department, L’Oréal Recherche Innovation.

Earlier this year, researchers revealed they had found a way to grow complex skin cells, complete with hair, and implant them successfully on skin.

Previously, experiments growing skin in labs, while successful, did not produce cells containing oil-secreting or sweat glands.

This meant they could not function as normal tissue in the way that our skin cells do.

The research team from Riken Centre for Developmental Biology managed to develop a method of growing skin in the lab that more closely resembles natural skin.