‘We’re not making new hairs, we’re rescuing’: could scientists reverse male pattern baldness?

Growing back stronger … the hope is that injecting the cells returns hair to a more youthful state. Photograph: Getty Images

Paul Kemp’s introduction to the issue of baldness came as a rude awakening while getting a haircut at the age of 20. “I remember my hairdresser looking down and saying ‘Oh my God, you’re going bald on top’.”

Kemp, now in his 60s, was dismayed at the discovery, but it also marked the beginning of a lifelong professional interest in the science of hair loss and how to stop it. Kemp is the co-founder and chief executive officer of HairClone, a company that is developing an experimental cell therapy treatment for male pattern baldness and whose tagline is “making hair loss history”.