The treatment techniques may also be used to reactivate switched off, normal, healthy genes and encourage hair growth after hair loss caused by environmental factors as can occur in telogen effluvium. The technique could even be used to block the activity of unwanted genes such as those involved in 5 alpha reductase activity. 5 alpha reductase is the enzyme that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone. However, the biggest challenge is to identify suitable genes that can be used as an effective treatment for hair loss. Unless the hair follicle stem cells are successfully transfected with the desired genes, the treatment will have to be regularly re-applied to have a continued effect.
Cells die off rapidly in hair follicles.
Most are incorporated into the growing hair fiber. This means that the transferred gene can be lost. In the research presented Dr Cotsarelis and company, they found the gene they transfected disappeared from hair follicles after a month or two.