Stem Cells: The Building Blocks of Life
Skin Gun
For a long time, doctors have treated skin injuries by replacing the damaged skin with the patient’s skin grafts. Unfortunately, the process can take up to several weeks, during which the patient’s skin can get infected.
In 2008, Professor Joerg C. Gerlach and his colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh's McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine developed the “skin gun”. This tool expedites the healing process: it regenerates skin in about an hour and the skin heals in a matter of days. First, the doctor removes the damaged skin and then takes a biopsy of the patient’s undamaged skin and isolates stem cells. Mixed into an aqueous solution, the skin cells are sprayed onto the damaged area. For now, the technique has only treated second-degree burns. A dozen patients have received successful treatment with the skin gun. Professor Gerlach hopes to refine and apply this method to third-degree burns. The skin gun has revolutionized the way skin injuries can be treated.