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Article: Skin cells reveal they have hairy origins.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- August 19, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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About every 2 weeks, people literally shed their skin. That's how long it takes for the outer layers, also known as the epidermis, to turn over. Dead cells on top slough off, exposing younger cells below.
The ultimate source of fresh skin may not be the skin itself. According to one group of biologists, hair follicles are the natural birthplaces of skin cells.
"There may be a very slow and very steady trafficking of cells, in the normal adult, from hair follicles to the epidermis," contends Robert M. Lavker of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. In the Aug. 18 CELL, a team led by Lavker and his longtime collaborator ...