Researchers at a San Diego research company, AntiCancer, Inc., are working on a procedure in which stem cells from the hair follicles of mice are transformed into brain and other type of cells. So far, their research, 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, said yesterday, 'We had previously found that the stem cells that make the hair follicles have similar features to stem cells that make the brain.'

The 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, like you would using embryonic stem cells,' Hoffman said.

While others in the field praise Hoffman for his work, some are concerned that important properties in mice and human hair are too different and that this may not be applicable to humans.

Deryl Troyer, of Kansas State University warned, 'Although this work was done in mice, it seems likely stem cells with similar potential are present in human hair follicles, and thus could be induced to become neurons or glia [another type of brain cell] outside the body.' He cautions that more work needs to be done in this area.