Lab-Grown Human Skin Could Bring And End To Animal Testing

Scientists in the United Kingdom have successfully grown a layer of human skin in a laboratory.

The artificial skin- made from stem cells- could bring an end to using animals for drug and cosmetic testing, scientists in the United Kingdom said, the BBC reported Thursday. Skin has been grown from stem cells before, however scientists say this is the closest they have ever come to creating human skin that has an absorbent barrier.

"This is a new and suitable model that can be used for testing new drugs and cosmetics and can replace animal models," lead researcher Dr. Dusko Ilic, from King's College London, told the BCC.

"It is cheap, it is easy to scale up and it is reproducible."

The research was published in the journal Stem Cell Reports.

The lab-grown skin is a replica of the epidermis, the outermost layer of skin that prevents moisture from escaping and microbes entering the body. In the past scientists have grown epidermis using skin cells removed during a biopsy.

But with the new research, scientists used skin cells that were reprogrammed, creating an endless supply of epidermis-type cells.

"The ability to obtain an unlimited number of genetically identical units can be used to study a range of conditions where the skin's barrier is defective due to mutations in genes involved in skin barrier formation, such as ichthyosis (dry, flaky skin) or atopic dermatitis (eczema)," Dr. Theodora Mauro, who also led the research, said according to The Independent.

Animal rights groups like the Humane Society International have lauded the findings, the BBC reported.

Troy Seidle, research and toxicology director, said using the lab-grown skin is a better alternative to using animal skin- which is not guaranteed to work because it has different properties than human skin.

"This new human skin model is superior scientifically to killing rabbits, pig, rats or other animals for their skin and hoping that research findings will be applicable to people- which they often aren't, due to species differences in skin permeability, immunology and other factors," Seidle said, the BBC reported.