Study suggests healing skin without scarring may be possible
Researchers unblock embryonic regrowth mechanism that shuts down after birth in mice
New findings by Harvard stem cell biologists suggest it may be possible in the future to regrow wounded skin without scarring.
The new study published March 20 in Cell reveals a way to fully regenerate skin by unblocking an embryonic healing mechanism that shuts off after birth. Demonstrated on mice, the strategy may help guide the development of similar therapies for human patients.
“Essentially, we found a way to make the wound healing outcome a lot better by learning how embryos do this so well,” said Ya-Chieh Hsu, professor of stem cell and regenerative biology, principal faculty member at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, and senior author of the new study. “I’m excited because we pushed the needle in a really important direction. When we have a wound, most skin cell types cannot regenerate, and we get a scar. But now I think we’ve found a way to change that, so that many cell types can regenerate, and we don’t get a scar.”
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