If you have thin hair or are concerned about hair loss, you will use topical or oral medication. Hair transplantation is a more direct treatment, but since it involves transplanting hair follicles from other areas, there is a disadvantage in that the number of hairs that can be transplanted is limited. A research team in Korea has developed a technology that can firmly implant hair without hair follicles into the head. Hair is inserted into a transplant needle, and adhesive is applied to the skin of a mouse. The hair that enters the skin is firmly fixed and does not fall out easily even when pulled with force. Since most of the adhesive component dissolves over time, there is less concern about long-term side effects. [Park Jong-min / KAIST Chemistry Graduate: If we insert it and hold it with our hands, it works, but since it is now known through the FDA that all the materials we used can be decomposed in the body...] This is thanks to a special adhesive that the research team created using biocompatible substances. Tannic acid, which sticks to the tongue and gives a bitter taste, is mixed with a polymer used as a medical thread material. When the sticky substance is heated and cooled repeatedly, the molecular arrangement changes and the adhesiveness becomes excellent. Two bandages were glued together. Even if you pull hard like this, they don’t come off easily. The results of animal experiments showed that the survival rate was low in rats, but in pigs, about 80% of the grafts were grafted one month after the transplant. Unlike humans, rats have muscles right under their skin, so the grafted hair did not last long, but pigs, which have a similar skin layer to humans, showed strong survival. The research team explained that the grafted hair does not grow, but can be replanted multiple times even if it falls out. [Lee Hae-shin / Professor of Chemistry at KAIST: We are looking at two years before clinical trials begin. Since medical devices are only tested once, the clinical trial period is expected to be 1 to 1.5 years, so (if all goes according to plan, until commercialization) a total of about 3.5 years.] This technology is expected to be helpful in areas that require the adhesion of living tissue, such as wound healing, hemostasis, and organ transplantation. This is Choi So-ra from YTN Science. ※ 'Your tip becomes news' [KakaoTalk] Search YTN and add channel [Phone] 02-398-8585 [E-mail] [email protected] ▶ Original article: https://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0134_202209... ▶ Tip: https://mj.ytn.co.kr/mj/mj_write.php ▣ Subscribe to YTN YouTube channel: http://goo.gl/Ytb5SZ ⓒ YTN Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited