Hair loss news first:
— Thanks to commentator “nosyu” from Japan for posting a link with news from today regarding hair and skin focused Japanese company Adjuvant Cosmetics, the renowned Dr. Takashi Tsuji (RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology) and Organ Technologies getting into some kind of partnership agreement. The Japanese to English translation did not work well enough for me to gather all the details. Make sure to do a search on this blog for Dr. Tsuji to read past posts that I have written about him.
— Since I started writing this blog, of all the researchers and companies involved in the hair loss world, Replicel has by far and away provided us with the most regular updates. This past month has been no exception. Here is a new video with Replicel’s CEO Lee Buckler starting his presentation at 16:11 (thanks “hellouser”). The presentation was part of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)’s “Investing in Japan” conference in Toronto, Canada that took place on January 29th 2016. The focus of the conference was on Japan’s booming regenerative medicine market. Lee also discusses Replicel’s partner Shiseido. From the same conference, here is a pdf of Lee’s presentation. And finally, here is a new letter from the CEO.
— The latest issue of Nature Biology has an interesting article titled “Biotechs target stagnant baldness market.” Only half the article is visible for free online, but you can find some hair loss forum threads where people are posting links to the full article. Some of those links came up with security warnings on my browser, so I am not posting them here. My favorite and at the same time least favorite sentence from the article: “It’s been 25 years since Propecia (finasteride), from Merck of Kenilworth, New Jersey, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1992.”
— “Hellouser” deserves some major financial reward for this stellar effort. Or at the very least, some more hair.
— Kerastem clinical trial page was updated at the end of January 2016. Go under the locations section of that page to see if there is a clinic near you where you can volunteer. US only for now it seems.
— I discussed Dr. Rei Ogawa and his surprising mechanotherapy theory on this blog before in 2014. Now Mr. Ogawa is back again as a co-author of this surprising article on how scalp massage positively impacts dermal papilla cells. Really hard to believe, but these authors are all respected scientists from a developed country (Japan) with a generally solid reputation insofar as accuracy of research goes.
— Did Dr. Bernard Arocha just perform the first ever documented ARTAS beard transplant?
— Irish men are increasingly opting for hair transplants. Is a reduction in alcohol consumption next?
And now on to medical items of interest:
— Partisanship in the US hurting 21st Century Cures Act. Thank goodness for Japan, Canada and probably some other countries by now.
— I have discussed Dr. Anthony Atala and the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine several times on this blog before. This week, both were widely covered by the media due to the completion of their 3D bioprinter that can make bone, cartilage and muscle (a culmination of 10 years of work it seems)! Full journal article here. No mention about hair in there, but a Canadian team’s 3D bioprinter related article from 2014 mentions the eventual feasibility of adding hair follicles to the new skin. Some quotes from Dr. Atala here.
— UK scientists get gene editing go ahead. Now western scientists may become less prone to criticize the Chinese too much as they did last year.
— Oldest heart transplant recipient dies 33 years after getting a new heart. Amazing story. In another article I read, his son said that he died from kidney problems and still had no heart problems.
— If you have older family members that you want to live longer, you might want to try to find a sketchy doctor who can help remove their senescent worn out cells without government approval. Or ask Liz Parrish for advice on South American clinics.
— A major boost for cancer treatment.
— This week “New Scientist” had an interesting article titled “First fully approved off-the-shelf stem cells launch in Japan.” You have to register to read it, so here is the pasted version.