Hair loss affects millions

-- men, women and even children.

Because hair loss has no cure and is a matter of vanity, it also attracts its fair share of scam artists.

Scientists have long believed that hair follicles develop in the womb, and that no new follicles appear after birth.

However, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania,

have regenerated follicles in mice by manipulating a gene called Wnt. The study potentially has broad applications, both for devising new methods to regrow hair and treating a variety of skin conditions and wounds.

Wnt is involved in the healing of wounds and

However, when the scientists blocked the Wnt gene, follicles didn't grow. When Wnt was stimulated, the skin healed without scarring and eventually had all the same characteristics -- hair follicles, glands, appearance -- of normal skin.

The technology

has now been licensed to a company called Follica Inc.

shift from looking at hormones to examining genes as the primary factor in hair loss.