Human skin grown in Kiwi labs

Dew technology enables skin to be grown from a patient's own skin cells - and with the same thickness and durability as the real thing. Photo / Thinkstock

Kiwi scientists are investigating how human skin could be synthetically grown in a lab - something that could revolutionise treatment for burns victims.

A team of Auckland University scientists, led by Professor Rod Dunbar and Dr Vaughan Feisst, have developed new technology enabling skin to be grown from a patient's own skin cells - and with the same thickness and durability as the real thing.

The innovation, being unveiled at a conference in Queenstown this weekend, could prove a huge boost for surgeons who presently can only graft a patient's wound with skin at the rate they can grow it on the remainder of their bodies.

"It can be a long and iterative process to get someone to the point where all of their wounds have been covered, and in all of that time, they are at risk of infection because they have open wounds," Dr Feisst told the Weekend Herald.

Another issue was the quality of that replacement skin, which, after being punched with tiny holes so it could be stretched to cover a wound, was affected by scarring as the holes healed.

After four years of groundwork, the team now believe they can address both problems.

"We are getting to the point now where we have got what we think is a great scaffold with which we can grow a patient's own skin cells, and we can expand those cells up in culture.

"This means we can take a small piece of a patient's skin and grow their cells up to make lots more, so that we can then create a much larger area of skin that can then be grafted on to the patient to cover their wounds."

Perhaps the most impressive part of the technology is its ability to interlock the surface of the skin and the dermis, or second layer beneath, in a way just as our own bodies do.

The binding material is composed of what is called electrospun poly lactic-co-glycolic acid, or PLGA, which is biodegradable and already used in dissolvable sutures.

While the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already approved PLGA for clinical use, the altered technology created by the Kiwi scientists required new approval.

"But because it's a material the FDA are familiar with, we hope that will make it a lot easier to get through the process," Dr Feisst said.

It was hoped that clinical trials could begin in the next 18 months.