Findings of the study, published in the journal Lancet, are likely to pave a way for potential burn treatments which could solve the problems of tissue rejection by burn patients and help them recover faster.
Cells derived from the embryos developed from the female eggs, fertilized in vitro, and donated for research purposes are known as embryonic stem cells.
Duplication of biological procedure to generate cells
In a study conducted on mice, researchers duplicated the biological steps that lead to skin formation during embryonic development using the embryonic stem cells.
The treatment led to the generation of a population of cells which exhibited the characteristics of epidermis--outer layer of the skin.
Researchers found that these cells were able to form a layer of skin once placed on an artificial surface.
New skin formed from stem cells
Once formed, this layer was then grafted onto five mice to determine whether the stem cells could produce new skin cells similar to humans.
The team noted that after a period of 12 weeks, the skin layer produced from the human embryonic stem cells grew into fully-formed human skin.
Dr. Christine Baldeschi, from the Institute for Stem Cell Therapy and Exploration of Monogenic Diseases in Evry, France, who led the research, said the results were promising.
She said the technique could lead to "an unlimited resource for temporary skin replacement in patients with large burns awaiting grafts of their own skin".
Holger Schluter of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia, said the research represented an important advance.
"This report takes research into regenerative skin stem cells to the next level.
"This finding suggests that skin derived from embryonic stem cells could be transplanted onto burnt patients awaiting skin grafts, with a reduced risk of rejection," Schluter said.
Burn techniques used at present
Presently, a technique called cell therapy is used for skin replacement of the burnt victims. In this technique, person’s own cells or keratinocytes are grown in the laboratory to replace the damaged skin.
But this method puts the patient at risk of health complications like dehydration and infection though it takes only three weeks to grow enough cells to treat the burnt skin.
In other methods, skin of the deceased patients is also used to replace the damaged skin of seriously burnt victims.
But it has two major drawbacks: Its availability is usually limited, and such tissues are often rejected by the patient’s immune system.
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