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Comment by msuniverse2026 | Hacker News Reader

msuniverse2026

Scientists regrowing everything except hair. Fuck my life.

I am hoping for advancements in cartilage growth. I underwent microfracture surgery in my knee and will eventually need a replacement unless we make progress in this field. I would prefer to avoid knee replacement if possible because I enjoy being active. I am hopeful we’re getting close.

Anecdotal, but I was going in for carpal tunnel work and ran into an older gentleman, probably early 70s, that had just gone through a knee replacement a week earlier. He was walking around on it and said he wasn't really in any pain.

I was amazed.

YMMV.

I have heard great things about knee replacements. Unfortunately, I’m relatively young (late 30s). If I were to get a replacement now, I’d likely need another one when I’m older. Additionally, I imagine getting an artificial knee replacement would make you no longer a candidate for lab-grown replacements. There is an option already where they can grow your cartilage in a lab, but it’s quite expensive, and my insurance will not cover it.

Just make sure you won't get one of those implants that cause metal toxicity / dementia:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00402-025-05869-x

In the summer my knees were so wrecked I could barely make it up and down the stairs. My GP first thought it was an inflammation and prescribed something for that, but when I went back after a couple of weeks he said the cartilage may have worn off and prescribed me Flexofytol. It may be placebo effect, but between taking it a bit easier, cycling more, and the flexofytol, my knees are the best they've been since I injured them in the first place.

Phase 2 trials on PP405 just completed. They’ll probably begin phase 3 trials sometime next year if you’re looking to enroll.

https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06393452

$4k and a trip to Turkey. I did it last tear and can recommend :)

My meniscus would like a word.

And limbs.

I would say every tissue: no bones, no organs, eyes, ears, nerves, skin.

Like what can they grow?

The liver is an exception here - you can grow back a lot of it.

Not many times tho: see cirrhosis

Well, I'm personally hoping stem cells pull through for corneal tissue regrowth. I've got significant scarring in one eye. I'd rather not get a donor (cadaver) cornea sewn on if it's avoidable but we'll see.

I think they're making progress.

Eh? They can grow skin cultures that are good enough to help burn victims. Not, like, with all the pores and follicles being there, but it is skin…

finasteride + minoxidil

If you don't have sides that is

Once the follicle is closed/gone, it’s gone.

Minoxidil won’t help grow hair on a patch of bold skin. After that only hair transplantation

I'm sure you're correct. That said, I saw a friend who went bald at 28 get all of his hair back from Minoxidil + finasteride. Maybe his folicles weren't closed/gone but he was bald and a year later, was not.

Apparently there's also now-a-days, Micro-needling, Stem Cell Therapy, Platelet-Rich Plasma, and others. No idea how effective they actually are

Well he even had alopecia or he got hair transplant. There is sadly no other option.

What does that mean? Alopecia is the general term for hair loss.

Sorry my bad. It's called that way in where I'm from. The hair loss is mostly due to mechanism similar to pattern baldness but the hair loss can occur even without death of hair follicles. It could also be triggered by some autoimmune disease.

This isn’t the whole story. Many people have follicles that are dormant. Many people have success regrowing hair on bald spots with minoxidil and/or finasteride.

If you look like Sir Patrick Stewart, yeah, that’s not growing back. A bald spot might fill in with medical treatment though.

Just keep your mental health in mind - there's growing concern that the link between finasteride and depression has been underestimated [0].

[0] https://www.psychiatrist.com/jcp/analytical-review-depressio...

Finasteride can make you have man-boobs, it’s a known side effect

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