 |
 |
New skin from old hair Thursday, 21 June, 2001, 00:42 GMT 01:42 UK - Scientists can now grow skin from hair follicles - cutting out the need for painful skin grafts. Researchers from the Swiss biotechnology company Modex Therapeutics, based in Lausanne, said they can use the stem cells found in hair follicles to grow new skin. They are hopeful this technique, called Epidex, could soon mean an end to the painful process of taking skin from other parts of the body for grafts. New skin like this is important in plastic surgery, particularly for burns victims, who can be left with disfiguring scars without the new skin. Dr Edward Baetge, the chief scientific officer for Modex, said the technique could use hairs taken from anywhere on the body. Doctors send between 20-30 hairs to Modex by post and then they return the skin about a month later. Dr Baetge said: "We're changing patients hair to patients' skin. "Doctors can pluck hairs from any points in the body." The stem cells are put onto trays which are then placed above a layer of completely unrelated human skin cells. These then secrete growth factors that transform the stem cells into basic skin cells called primary keratinocytes. The cells are then exposed to the air and this turns it into proper skin, with a horny layer on top. If the patients are too sick to get their treatment immediately doctors can freeze the keratinocytes until they are ready. Modex has just released the preliminary results of a trial on 80 patients with diabetic skin ulcers at 12 clinics in Germany and Switzerland and they say that for the first 36 to be treated the technique worked at least as well as the more traditional split skin mesh grafting. Although the technique has currently only been used on fairly small ulcers Modex is hoping to treat larger wounds. Dr Tania Phillips, a dermatologist at Boston University School of Medicine said this was an important break through. "It's a great development because to get cultured keratinocyte grafts from individual patients, you must take at least one centimetre of skin. "With the hair cells, it sounds like you can provide skin coverage without hurting the patient." The research is published in New Scientist. Related to this story: Child burns victims failed (05 Jan 01 | Health) 'My child was burned' (14 Mar 01 | Health) Cancer hair loss halted (05 Jan 01 | Health) Internet links: Boston University School of Medicine New Scientist Modex Therapeutics BBC News Online: Health http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/health/newsid_1399000/1399252.stm janet paterson: an akinetic rigid subtype, albeit perky, parky . pd: 54/41/37 cd: 54/44/43 tel: 613 256 8340 email: [log in to unmask] . snail mail: 375 Country Street, Apt 301, Almonte, Ontario, Canada, K0A 1A0 . a new voice: the nnnewsletter: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/janet313/ . a new voice: the wwweb site: http://www.geocities.com/janet313/ . ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn