The compartmentalised organisational complexity of the hair follicle is stable and does not change, which makes the production of hair fibres in the laboratory possible when the follicles have been dissected from biopsies and cultured. In vitro hair growth has been developed in the L’Oréal laboratories and today represents a real research tool. After having removed a hair follicle from a scalp biopsy, the intact organ is isolated and cultured in a carefully determined medium. Rather than losing its organisation, the hair follicle maintains its structure and floats in the culture dish while continuing to grow at a speed of 0.3 mm per day (similar to that seen on the scalp).

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