Daily Mail - 01.08.2019

Daily Mail, Thursday, August 1, 2019
QQQ

By Victoria Allen

Science Correspondent

YOUNG men can for the first time freeze

their hair follicles as an insurance policy

in case they go bald.

The Human Tissue Authority is reported

to have given a Manchester company

authorisation to set up the world’s

first hair bank.

From next week, men over 18 will be

able to pay around £2,000 to store hair

follicles, just as women freeze their eggs

to start a family when they are older.

The follicles can be used to create stem

cells which can be used to promote hair

growth later in the patient’s life.

This would be a less painful alternative

to hair transplants and may avoid the side

effects of using powerful drugs such as

finasteride to stimulate growth. However,

experts caution that research does not

yet show cloned cells work for baldness.

At the follicle bank, which is also open to

women concerned about hair loss, a

patient will have about 100 hair follicles

taken from the back of their head. The

procedure can be carried out in less

than an hour.

Doctors will freeze the follicles at minus

180C before extracting the dermal papilla

cells – stem cells which ‘talk’ to skin cells

to create a shaft in the skin from which

hair grows. Older people losing their hair

have worn-out hair follicles which

grow fewer hairs that are also shorter

and thinner.

An injection of cells cloned in the labora-

tory from their younger follicles could

supercharge those older follicles to grow

thicker, better quality hair.

Hair restoration surgeon Dr Bessam

Farjo of biotechnology firm HairClone,

said: ‘It stops the clock on ageing

and we hope could make hair loss a thing

of the past.’

Dr Asim Shahmalak, president of the Tri-

chological Society and a hair transplant

surgeon based in London and Manchester,

said: ‘After many decades, it is hopeful for

men that there is something new availa-

ble for dealing with hair loss. This would

be much less invasive than a hair trans-

plant, although there is not yet evidence

that cloning cells from hair follicles will

work. It is the goal of researchers to use

cells in this way to stimulate hair to grow

thicker and maintain density.’

The Manchester firm currently only has

authorisation to bank hair follicles and

not so far to use them on patients.

Dr Farjo said: ‘There is no one-off fix as

hair loss is progressive and a patient will

need to have additional treatments every

few years in order to rejuvenate newly

thinning follicles as the balding

process progresses.’

Hair we go again! Freeze follicles to fight baldness

By Susie Coen

reported that her body has still

not been recovered, as it fell into

an area of savannah where wild

animals roam.

Dr David Woodman of Robinson

College, Cambridge, said the uni-

versity was ‘deeply shocked’ by the

news of Miss Cutland’s death. ‘In

her two years here, she made a

huge contribution to many differ-

ent aspects of life in the college,’ he

said. ‘She will be sorely missed by

us all. The college extends its sin-

cerest condolences to Alana’s fam-

ily at this extremely difficult time.’

As well as being the vice president

of student-run dance group Cutazz,

Miss Cutland was also involved in

the campus yoga and mindfulness

society. ‘She was amazing, one of

the most beautiful and pure girls

I’ve ever known, inside and out,’ a

friend told The Sun.

‘The whole thing has been a

nightmare for her family and

friends back home in the UK. We

knew she was getting some sort of

plane trip last week to study the

seabed on a neighbouring island,

but then contact went dead and

we started to fear the worst.

‘Alana had so much going for her.

She loved animals and nature and

was over the moon to be going to

Madagascar to pursue her passion.’

Miss Cutland is believed to have

been travelling with a pilot and

one other passenger when trag-

edy struck. Local reports said

investigators would attempt to

solve the mystery of why she fell

out of the plane using a recon-

struction of the flight.

A spokesman for the Foreign

Office said: ‘We are in contact with

the Madagascan government,

police and aviation authorities fol-

lowing reports of the death of a

British woman. Our staff are offer-

ing support to her family.’

[email protected]

Tragic plunge: A Cessna light aircraft, thought to be similar

to the one Alana Cutland fell from shortly after take-off

Riddle: Officials inspect plane

A CAMBRIDGE University

student has died after falling

from a plane during an intern-

ship in Madagascar.

Alana Cutland, 19, reportedly

plunged 5,000ft from the light

aircraft shortly after take-off.

The natural sciences student, from

Milton Keynes, had been working on

the biology of crabs in East Africa.

Her family said she was ‘particularly

excited’ to carry out research in the

Indian Ocean, having raised the money

to fund her trip to Madagascar herself.

She was described by relatives as a

‘bright, independent young woman’ who

had a ‘thirst for discovering more of the

world’. In a statement released through

the Foreign Office, the family said:

‘Alana was a bright, independent young

of people from all walks of life,

who we know will miss her dearly.

‘Alana grasped every opportunity

that was offered to her with enthu-

siasm and a sense of adventure,

always seeking to extend her

knowledge and experience in the

best ways possible.’

They added: ‘Alana was also a

talented dancer and embraced

the more creative side of her tal-

ents with joy and commitment.

Her thirst for discovering more of

the world always ensured she

made the most of every second of

her action-packed young life.

‘We are heartbroken at the loss

of our wonderful, beautiful daugh-

ter, who lit up every room she

walked into, and made people

smile just by being there.’

Miss Cutland died while flying

over the isolated northern region

of Anjajavy last Thursday, but

details were only released by offi-

cials yesterday. Local media

Horror at

5

,

000 feet

Cambridge science student falls from

plane during internship in Madagascar

‘Grasped every

opportunity’

Page 

Travels: Miss Cutland funded her

own trip to Madagascar, above

woman, who was loved and admired by

all those that knew her.

‘She was always so kind and support-

ive, which resulted in her having a very

special connection with a wide network