Here is an interesting development in stem-cell research:

In a report which was published yesterday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicates that it might be possible that human hair follicles can be a source for stem cells.

Dr. Robert Hoffman, who is leading this study, and his team isolated stem cells from hair and manipulated them in such a way that they became brain cells. They removed mice whiskers and isolated cells from the follicle. These cells became neurons within one week. Over time, they then developed into other types of cells.

Stem cells can ultimately develop into important body cells which can then be used to treat a variety of diseases including heart conditions, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Hoffman points out how much easier it is to harvest cells from hair follicles than from other sources. ‘Plucking a hair follicle, as opposed to digging out bone marrow, digging out cells in the brain — the access is the real potential advantage,’ he said.

Additionally, using hair follicles eliminates the ethical problems that some people have in using embryonic stem cells for research. ‘You don’t have any political problems, either, you would like using embryonic stem cells,’ Hoffman said.

If hair follicles prove to be a rich source of viable stem cells, would that not completely eliminate the need to create embryos for the sole purpose of stem cell farming? Why wrestle with a moral and ethical dilemma when there is an easy way to bypass the entire debate?

They also mentioned that it may lead to a cure for baldness. Except I'm confused on how that works. If they need a hair follicle to get stem cells to cure baldness, then all hope is lost for the royal pate.