Sydney, Aug 21 (IANS) – In a groundbreaking medical advance, scientists in Australia have successfully grown the world’s first fully functioning lab-made human skin with its own blood supply, a development that could transform treatments for burns, grafts, and chronic skin diseases.
The team from the University of Queensland’s Frazer Institute used stem cells to engineer a skin model complete with blood vessels, capillaries, hair follicles, nerves, immune cells, and layered tissues.
“This is the most life-like skin model that’s ever been developed and will allow us to study diseases and test treatments far more accurately,” said lead researcher Dr. Abbas Shafiee, a regenerative medicine scientist at UQ.
Until now, scientists have faced limitations in replicating real human skin for research. By reprogramming human skin cells into stem cells and growing them into miniature skin organoids, the team was able to add engineered blood vessels to create a model that developed “just like natural human skin.”
The results, published in Wiley Advanced Healthcare Materials, highlight six years of work that led to the creation of skin capable of pigmentation, appendage formation, nerve integration, and blood circulation.
Co-author Professor Kiarash Khosrotehrani said the breakthrough could significantly improve therapies for inflammatory and genetic conditions such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and scleroderma.
“Skin disorders are often difficult to treat, and this breakthrough provides new hope for patients living with chronic conditions,” he said.
