Japanese lab successfully cultivates 'bioengineered skin' to aid burn victims and cure baldness

The various joint collaboration from Riken Center for Developmental Biology (CDB) along with the Tokyo University of Science and other unnamed organizations from Japan had developed a complex synthetic skin tissue that in the near future could be a superior substitute to skin grafting, according to a press release from Riken. 

"Up until now, artificial skin development has been hampered by the fact that the skin lacked the important organs, such as hair follicles and exocrine glands, which allow the skin to play its important role in regulation. With this new technique, we have successfully grown skin that replicates the function of normal tissue," Takashi Tsuji of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology made clear in the press release as they were all ecstatic in their progress.

At the start of the study, cells taken from the gums of mice were turned into induced pluripotent stem cells by exposing them to a cocktail of chemicals that turned back their developmental clock. These were then coaxed to develop into EBs in the laboratory. After maturity the cells were then embedded to another batch of mice which brought about a fully-working tissue having both sebaceous and sweat glands.  

Furthermore the effective auto regeneration prompted the senior author of the research to add that:

"We are coming ever closer to the dream of being able to recreate actual organs in the lab for transplantation, and also believe that tissue grown through this method could be used as an alternative to animal testing of chemicals."

This technology will be the cause of decline of animal testing especially in various cosmetic products which has brought about much flak in the industry, as mentioned by Peta.