Engineering a skin replacement

Major skin loss from trauma or burns cannot always be replaced with the patient's own skin. An engineered skin replacement would restore the barrier function of the skin, remain permanently on the wound, and minimize late functional complications of wound contraction. Cultured epithelial autograft (CEA) sheets reproduce the epidermis' function and have been used in burn patients to close large wounds. There are several promising avenues for dermal replacement, but none has yet had wide clinical application.