Next time you order a large french fry from McDonald’s, perhaps you might think of getting an additional order.
Sure, you might die of obesity, but at least you won’t be bald.
That’s the word from a new study conducted by Japanese researchers who say a chemical in the world famous fries might be able to stop baldness.
Preliminary experiments suggest the groundbreaking therapy will also work in people.
The Japanese team’s breakthrough came after they managed to mass produce ‘hair follicle germs’ (HFGs) in the lab for the first time.
These are the cells that fuel follicle development. They are the ‘Holy Grail’ of hair loss research, as they have never been regenerated before.
And the secret was to use the ‘McDonald’s fries’ chemical dimethylpolysiloxane in the vessel in which they were cultured.
This is added for safety reasons to prevent cooking oil from foaming. It was particularly effective for the HFGs because oxygen easily passes through.
Professor Junji Fukuda, of Yokohama National University , said: “The key for the mass production of HFGs was a choice of substrate materials for the culture vessel.
“We used oxygen-permeable dimethylpolysiloxane (PDMS) at the bottom of culture vessel, and it worked very well.”
