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Stem cells have fascinated biologists for years. They are unique amongst all other cells of the body in two ways; their capacity for self-renewal, and their ability to give rise to many different cell types. Since embryonics stem cells are controversial, researchers turned to adult stem cells. While adult stem cells are not as versatile as embryonic stem cells, they do have the potential to direct the development of certain cell lineages. For example all the different layers of your skin have ancestral skin stem cells.
In the case of skin tissue transplantation, the stem cells can be derived from the patient who will receive the cultured tissue, thus removing the chance of complications arising due to donor incompatibility. Skin grafts have been performed on burn victims for quite some time, but with variable success.
And this is of course where the genius of the skin gun, and its inventor Joerg C. Gerlach, comes in -- it bypasses the need for the in vitro tissue culturing.
Via Dr. Stefan Gruenwald
