They were researching stress, but we might be able to add 'cured baldness' to the list of unexpected discoveries found using basic research.
As they wrote in PLoS One, a team led by researchers from UCLA and the Veterans Administration was investigating how stress affects gastrointestinal function but may have found a chemical compound that induces hair growth by blocking a stress-related hormone associated with hair loss — entirely by accident.
Except it's only in mice. So we will have fewer bald mice, at least.
The CRF1/CRF2 receptor antagonist, astressin-B, injected intraperitoneally (ip) in CRF-OE mice with fully developed alopecia induces hair growth and pigmentation. Photographs: Row A: Male CRF-OE mice (4 months old) injected ip once daily for 5 consecutive days with saline at 3 days after the last injection and Row B: astressin-B (5 mg/mouse) at 3 days after the last ip injection, and Row C: the same mice as in the middle panel Row B at 4 weeks after the last ip injection.
Credit: UCLA/VA
