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Researchers from the University of Dundee have created lab-grown human skin in an effort to reduce the need for animal testing.
Founded by Dr. Robyn Hickerson and Dr. Michael Conneely, Ten Bio Ltd has developed a product dubbed as ‘TenSkin’ which is said to ‘closely mimic intact, living skin’.
‘More effective’
According to The Times, Dr. Conneely said: “The skin that covers our body is under tension, this has been known for a long time.
“Other models don’t incorporate this tension, and this is why our product is more effective. When skin is removed from the body it contracts as the tension relaxes.”
He added that by stretching the skin ‘to an optimal tension’, the duo have created a model allowing both pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies to ‘generate pre-clinical data that will be much more predictive of what is likely to be seen in the clinic’.
‘Global cosmetics company’
“While animals can serve as good analogs to study general principles, they often fail when it comes to specific details due to animal/human species differences…” added Dr. Hickerson.
“Upwards of 90 percent of drugs that are proven safe and effective in animals fail during clinical trials.”
The company has reportedly signed a contract with a ‘global cosmetics company’ and is working on launching its website.
