Scientists have developed a way to grow entire sheets of replacement skin using only a few hairs from a patient's head.
March 31, 2026
Original Paper
Hair follicle-derived epithelial sheet has potential in vitiligo treatment
medRxiv · 10.64898/2026.03.24.26349027
The Takeaway
Traditional skin grafts for the pigment-loss disorder vitiligo require surgically removing large sections of healthy skin, which causes scarring. This new technique uses hair follicles as a cell source to grow 'multi-layered, epidermis-like sheets' in a lab, allowing doctors to restore skin color without invasive donor-site surgery.
From the abstract
Vitiligo is an acquired pigmentary disorder of the skin and mucus membranes. Previous study has demonstrated that autologous cultured epithelial grafts (ACEG) is an effective treatment for stable vitiligo. However, extraction of full-thickness skin might result in scar formation at donor site, which have hindered the wider application of this technology, especially for patients requiring large-area transplantation. Hair follicle as a source of keratinocyte and melanocyte, could be potential sour