Japanese researchers have grown skin tissue that not only includes hair follicles, but all the glands that come with it, including oil and sweat glands. The trick was to take cells from mouse gums, turn them into stem cell-like forms that generate skin, and implant those into mice with immune system deficiencies.
The resulting skin was a little strange, but it was healthy, behaved normally and made connections with natural tissue. The technique is still a long, long way from practical use. The scientists estimate that human trials will only start sometime within the next 10 years. If it pans out, though, the discovery could be a tremendous boon to the medical world, reports microcapmagazine.com.
Victims of a serious burn or disease that destroys skin could get replacement tissue that is virtually indistinguishable from the naturally grown variety.
