NTU study on hair regrowth in mice in 20 days goes viral

Taipei, Nov. 5 (CNA) The groundbreaking National Taiwan University (NTU) study, which uncovered a pathway to regrow hair in mice in 20 days by stimulating the skin's fat cells, has gone viral, with a social media post about the research reaching around 19 million views in 12 days.

Published on Oct. 22 in the journal Cell Metabolism, the study revealed that skin injury starts a chain reaction: immune cells called macrophages signal the fat cells under the skin to release free fatty acids, which then act as fuel to reprogram the metabolism of dormant stem cells and trigger them to grow new hair.

In their mouse experiments, the researchers used controlled skin injuries (such as mild irritation or burns) to jumpstart hair growth. They discovered that hair stem cells were activated by Day 7 post-injury, new hair became visibly apparent by Day 10, and the mice achieved full hair regrowth within 20 days.

The researchers also proved that topical treatment of monounsaturated fatty acids onto uninjured mouse skin was enough to successfully grow new hair because it directly turned on the sleeping hair stem cells.

A post by NEXTA, a Belarusian media outlet, on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) on Oct. 25 contributed to the viral spread of the study, garnering over 19 million views as of Wednesday and prompting local media in Taiwan to follow the story over the past days.

Responding to a post about the research on a Facebook page on Oct. 26, Lin Sung-jan (林頌然), lead contact person for the study, said that "the regenerative capacity of the skin is a stunning testament to the delicate complexity of life."

"We initiated this study based on clinical observations that skin irritation or sustained stimulation (such as the itching under a cast for a broken bone) causes the affected area to become noticeably hairier," Lin, who is an attending physician at NTU hospital and chair and distinguished professor of NTU's Department of Biomedical Engineering, said in the comment.

These findings have not yet been validated in human skin, the NTU team noted.