Using mice at the University of Manchester researchers have been looking into the reason why some men lose their hair and the study could help find a cure for hair loss that could be used by the big drug manufacturers to finally sort the problem. The researchers led by Dr.Headon have been studying the molecular functions and processes that determine exactly which embryonic skin cells eventually turn into hair follicles.

The research is primarily aimed at understanding a disease called ectodermal dysplasia that occurs when skin cells are unable to develop into tissues which make hair follicles and so the study is not directly relevant for the study of male pattern balding but will nevertheless be very useful as it examines the mechanism as to why hair follicles shrink and wither in some men.

The research team uncovered 3 proteins that determine the skin cells ability to metamorphis into other types of cells that create hair. These proteins are created by your genetic make up and one of them in particular was identified as being important for interacting on a molecular plane to establish the individual hair pattern of a person.

The research team also discovered that specific cells that were given the genetic instruction to turn into hair follicles even send signs to other cells to enable similar hair loss patterns.  The researchers were actually able to over activate the relevant hair protein in mice and when they did this the resulting baby mice grew more hair.

The level of research into all hair loss remedies has grown greatly in the last decade as newer and more realistic hair loss methods come onto a market that is now worth in the region of one billion dollars.