A study in this week's edition of The Lancet reports that the use of human embryonic stem-cells (hESCs) is a promising alternative for producing temporary skin substitutes for patients awaiting skin grafts after, for example, serious burn injuries. The article is the work of Dr Christine Baldeschi, INSERM and Institute for Stem Cell Therapy and Exploration of Monogenic Diseases, Evry Cedex, France, and colleagues.

For more than two decades, patients with serious burns have benefited from cell therapy to help them recover from their injuries. In this therapy, the patient's own skin cells (keratinocytes) are taken. Then more are grown in the laboratory and used to replace the damaged skin. But the major disadvantage is that there is a three week period needed to grow enough cells. This puts the patients at risk of dehydration and infection. Decellularised skin from deceased persons can be used to cover wounds during this period. However, availability is limited and the tissue is often rejected by the host. To overcome the problem of accessibility, there has been active search and development for inert synthetic and biosynthetic matrices…