A turn-on for bald men

Science Editor

Hair loss and other forms of degeneration associated with ageing and disease may be reversed or delayed by a rejuvenating factor, according to American researchers.

A link between the workings of stem cells and a molecule that enables cells to multiply indefinitely could offer new ways of treating the symptoms of age, tissue injury and cancer.

The molecule is called TERT and Dr Steven Artandi and colleagues at Stanford University, California, describe in today's issue of the journal Nature how activating the protein in skin cells results in rapid hair growth.

In mice that had been genetically altered so that the protein was turned on, Dr Artandi found it activated resting hair follicle stem cells so hair growth can restart.