Hair Cloning | Follicular Multiplication

The most obvious shortcoming of Hair Transplants, is that existing hair has to be redistributed. That means that even in successful hair transplant procedures, the density of hair that can be achieved is far less than desired. Two innovative techniques hold great promise to provide a solution to this limitation, and launch hair transplants along with the entire hair loss field into a new era.

Follicular multiplication vs. Hair Cloning.

The first technique is Follicular Multiplication, developed by the GHO clinic. Research conducted at this clinic revealed that a single hair follicle can induce growth of hair from two separate locations in it. Based on this discovery, hair follicles from a donor area are divided to two, and both parts are transplanted in the balding areas. For both of them to grow hair the cutting process has to be done very accurately. If one of the parts is cut too short it will not be able to induce hair growth. The follicular cutting procedure is improving and today its success rate is at about 80%, whereas not long ago it was only 50%. Another remarkable discovery was "pili multigemini". As explained in the hair transplants section, hair follicles are naturally distributed in small groups across the scalp. When upper parts of cut follicles are transplanted in groups of two or three units, they can grow up to five hair shafts! Therefor, using this technique provides surgeons with more hair follicles and enables them to achieve a more natural appearance, with hair density that is over double the best that can be achieved with normal hair transplants.

The second technique, Hair Cloning (or Hair Multiplication) is developed by both GHO clinic and the Bazan institute. It promises to provide an unlimited amount of hair that will enable surgeons to achieve a completely natural appearance with full hair density. In this technique, tissue is removed from the donor areas, and cells from it are transplanted in balding areas to impregnate them. In this process new hair follicles are created, ones which are supposed to be DHT resistant. The donor tissue can be taken from the patient himself, and maybe even from other individuals!

Does the unlimited amount of hair makes Hair Cloning the ultimate technique?

While this technique certainly holds a great deal of promise in it, there are still some uncertainties. There hasn't been too much information released about it neither from Bazan nor from GHO. Still, from what we do know, it seems that some the newly grown follicles are NOT DHT resistant. If this is true, it can cause a degree of un uniformity in density, in areas where there are too many of these follicles. Its lack of aesthetics will certainly rule out the possibility of using hair cloning in frontal areas, where the patient will have to undergo a conventional hair transplant.

So what should I do ?

Both hair cloning and follicular multiplication procedures are very expensive at the moment, and their costs can come to tens of thousands of dollars. Our advice is to hold out and wait for a while. Apart from their staggering price tag, there is also a degree of uncertainty about long term results. Since hair cloning and follicular multiplication have only been developed recently, there is no way to know for sure that transplanted and new hair follicles will continue to function properly, and complete many full cycles of hair growth as the ones in conventional hair transplant procedures do.