Scientists Grow Artificial Skin From Umbilical Cord Stem Cells
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
In a breakthrough discovery, scientists have managed to grow artificial skin from the stem cells of the umbilical cord. This development will be useful in treating patients with burns, according to an announcement from the University of Granada.
“One of the problems major-burn victims currently have is that, in order to apply the current techniques of artificial skin, a number of weeks are needed,” the announcement said. ”That is because the skin needs to be grown from parts of the patient’s healthy skin.”
But since this new type of skin can be stored in a tissue bank, it can be used instantly, he said. This cuts down the amount of time needed to apply artificial skin by several weeks.
The regenerative medicine discovery comes from scientists at the university. Their paper in Stem Cells Translational Medicine said the research uncovers a “novel cell source for the development of human oral mucosa and skin in tissue engineering protocols.”
The development builds on prior work from the same research team. Their research “pointed to the potential for Wharton stem cells [stem cells from the umbilical cord] to be turned into epithelia cells,” RedOrbit reported.
The University of Granada scientists aren’t the only group delving into this approach. “Last month, a team of Italian scientists announced they had developed a similar method — but in reverse,” the report said.
Using cells from a mouse, that team at the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan reverse programmed them “back into stem cells. These stem cells were then used to reduce damages to the nervous system of lab mice,” RedOrbit said, citing the group’s paper in the journal Nature Communications.
Skin development for burn victims is a fertile area of research in the medical design community. Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University, for instance, recently discovered a new way to grow blood vessels from human stem cells. The findings, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), could prove a major step toward repairing and regenerating tissues in patients with burns and other conditions.