Spare skin

• April 28, 2024

Stored in a refrigerator of the School of Medicine (FM) of the UNAM, as if it were vegetables or cold meats, small and transparent boxes preserve a medical advance that was previously believed impossible: artificial skin developed in this institution from tissue engineering techniques.

Burned patients, with diabetic foot ulcer or hypertrophic scars, are candidates to receive skin made by humans.

The idea of ​​generating it came from a research stay I did in Spain in 2007, where I learned tissue engineering techniques, said Dr. Andrés Castell. "This field is vital and we must promote its development in Mexico, since it opens up the possibility of restoring damaged tissues or that have stopped functioning properly."

Orders for artificial skin are constant. UNAM researchers are able to meet the demand of patients, but the implant must be done with approval and in coordination with your doctor. Until now, some patients of public hospitals in Mexico have received the unique skin.

The doctor and specialist in research explained that the first thing to do is take a biopsy. "A sample of the patient's skin is taken from about one square centimeter, then we isolate its smaller components: the keratinocytes (the predominant cells of the epidermis, the outer layer of the skin) and the fibroblasts (cells that are found in the layer of skin called dermis). Since we have the keratinocytes and the fibroblasts separately, we make them grow through culture techniques and we add growth factors. "

Subsequently, the fibroblasts are taken and placed in human plasma.

Thus, he added, we obtain a hydrogel formed from fibrin, a protein present in the blood, where we put the fibroblasts; These will subsequently produce collagen, the main component of the dermis.

"The next step is to obtain the epidermis. To do this, we take the keratinocytes and place them on top of the same hydrogel with fibroblasts. The final product is a simile of the dermis and epidermis, useful for the treatment of skin lesions. "

"Our artificial skin as we get it now is a little whiter than the natural one, because it lacks melanin and hair. We continue working to achieve a skin with hair follicles and sweat glands, "concluded Dr. Castell.

Science contributes to improving our quality of life, participates in the Citizen Agenda of Science Technology and Innovation, a national consultation in which you can choose the challenges you consider must confront science and technology to achieve a better quality of life in the year 2030 You can vote for the challenge that seems most important to you: www.agendaciudadana.mx
 

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