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Key Points

Australian scientists have achieved a world first by growing fully functional human skin complete with its own blood supply. The University of Queensland team used stem cell technology to create skin that includes blood vessels, hair follicles, and nerves. This breakthrough took six years to develop and closely mimics natural human skin. The innovation promises to transform treatment for burns, skin grafts, and chronic conditions like psoriasis and dermatitis.

Key Points: Australian Scientists Grow First Living Skin with Blood Supply

  • Uses stem cells to create complete skin replica with blood vessels
  • Includes hair follicles, nerves, and immune cells
  • Enables better study of skin diseases and treatments
  • Could revolutionize treatment for burns and chronic skin conditions
2 min read

Australian scientists grow world's 1st living skin with blood supply in lab

University of Queensland team creates world's first fully functioning lab-made human skin with blood vessels, hair follicles, and nerves using stem cell technology.

"This is the most life-like skin model that's been developed anywhere in the world - Abbas Shafiee, UQ Frazer Institute"

Sydney, Aug 21

In a first, a team of Australian scientists has grown the world's first fully functioning lab-made human skin with its own blood supply. The advance may pave the way for better treatment of skin diseases, burns, and grafts.

The team from the University of Queensland used stem cells to create a replica of the human skin, which had blood vessels, capillaries, hair follicles, nerves, tissue layers, and immune cells.

"This is the most life-like skin model that's been developed anywhere in the world and will allow us to study diseases and test treatments more accurately," said lead researcher Abbas Shafiee, a tissue engineering and regenerative medicine scientist from UQ's Frazer Institute.

“Until now, scientists have been limited in how we study skin diseases and develop new therapies.

“But with a skin model like this, that closely mimics real human skin, we will be able to study diseases more closely, test treatments, and develop new therapies more effectively,” Shafiee said.

He explained that recent advancements in stem cells enabled them to engineer 3-dimensional skin lab models. The team took human skin cells and reprogrammed them into stem cells -- which can be turned into any type of cell in the body.

These stem cells were placed in petri dishes, which then grew into mini versions of skin, called skin organoids.

“We then used the same stem cells to create tiny blood vessels and added these to the growing skin,” the scientist said.

“It developed just like natural human skin, with layers, hair follicles, pigmentation, appendage patterning, nerves, and most importantly, its own blood supply,” Shafiee said, in the research published in Wiley Advanced Healthcare Materials.

The skin model, which took six years to develop, can help improve grafts and treatments for inflammatory and genetic skin disorders like psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and scleroderma, said co-author Professor Kiarash Khosrotehrani from UQ's Frazer Institute.

“Skin disorders can be difficult to treat, and it’s a real breakthrough to be able to provide hope for people living with chronic conditions.”

- IANS

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Reader Comments

R
Rajesh Q
Amazing breakthrough! But I hope this technology becomes affordable and accessible to developing countries like India. Often these medical marvels remain out of reach for common people due to high costs.
A
Aman W
Six years of research! This shows what dedicated science can achieve. Hope Indian research institutions are also working on similar regenerative medicine projects. We need to invest more in STEM research.
S
Sarah B
As a medical student in India, this is exactly the kind of innovation we need to study! The inclusion of blood vessels and nerves makes it so much more realistic for testing treatments. Game changer for dermatology!
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Vikram M
Wonderful news! But I wonder about the ethical considerations - creating human tissue in labs always raises important questions. Hope proper guidelines are in place for such research.
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Nisha Z
This could be life-changing for people with chronic skin conditions like psoriasis. My mother has suffered for years with limited treatment options. Hope this reaches patients soon! 🤞

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