Japanese scientists find an ingredient used in McDonald’s chips might cure baldness.

Researchers at Yokohama National University in Japan reported that McDonald’s chips might hold the key to curing baldness.

Dimethylpolysiloxane – an anti-foaming agent made of silicone added to the oil used to cook the chips – has been found to stimulate hair growth on mice. The reason, according to the researchers is because oxygen easily passes through it.

“We demonstrated that the integrity of the oxygen supply through the bottom of the silicon chip was crucial to enabling both HFG formation and subsequent hair shaft generation,” said Professor Junji Fukuda, of Yokohama National University.

And the researchers believe it could have the same results on humans. “This simple method is very robust and promising,” says Fukuda. “We hope this technique will improve regenerative therapy to treat hair loss such as androgenic alopecia.”