Korea: Stem Cell Therapy for Skin Developed

[Wise Young]

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/2005...8423610440.htm

Stem Cell Therapy for Skin Developed

By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter

Skin cells enriched from stem cells are being sprayed on damaged skin to restore the epidermis.

A team of Korean scientists has developed a breakthrough technology to heal skin damage, such as burn injuries, by transplanting skin cells enriched from stem cells.

The team, headed by Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences researcher Son Young-sook, Tuesday revealed the medical technique of using stem cells to mass produce skin cells.

``We extracted skin stem cells from a burn patient’s epidermis, cultured them and increased their number by 200 times outside his body in two weeks. Then we transplanted them back to the patient and got a satisfactory result,’’ the 47-year-old Son said.

She added that the new therapy will be effective for many burn patients for whom the conventional way of transplanting their own skin cells for covering burns is not feasible.

Until now, doctors have resorted to autologous epidermal transplantation surgery for damaged skin replacement but that did not work for those without transplantable skin cells.