Genetically corrected skin to
save the life of a German so-called 'butterfly boy' was
developed in Italy, Nature magazine reports in its issue on
newsstands now.
The lab-grown human skin from which a genetic flaw was
removed was transplanted onto 80% of the body of a 'butterfly
boy' suffering from epidermolyosis bullosa (EB), a genetic
disease that makes skin as fragile as a butterfly's, the new
article in Nature says.
The operation happened in Germany in 2015 using skin
regenerated in Italy by the group of Michele De Luca of the
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
The skin was grafted on in two operations, carried out in
November and December 2015 at the Ruhr University in Bochum,
when the Syrian-born boy was seven.
"Now the boy is well, he's going to school and playing
football," De Luca told ANSA.
"The boy lives with his parents, sisters and brothers. His
skin is stable and has already had several cycles of renewal".
The request for an operation came from Germany because "the
boy, suffering from a serious form of epidermolyosis bullosa,
had lost 80% of his skin, he was on the verge of death and in a
drug-induced coma," De Luca told ANSA.
The green light from German authorities for the operation on
compassionate grounds was given in September 2015.
EB is a rare genetic disorder that causes the skin to blister
and burst, leaving raw sores that are susceptible to infections.
Sufferers have to live their lives wrapped in bandages, and
the disease causes them to eventually succumb to anemia, chronic
infection, and even early death.
The skin was regenerated in the Stefano Ferrari Department of
Regenerative Medicine of the University of Modena and Reggio
Emilia.
The regeneration of the skin was made possible by the
discovery of the source of stem cells that enable skin to renew
itself continually, De Luca told ANSA.
"It was a very hotly debated issue and now it has finally
been resolved," he said.
The discovery supplied the first direct proof that human skin
is sustained by a foundation of very long-lived cells, from
which progenitor cells are derived, De Luca explained.
"Before this discovery, it was thought that the skin only had
one type of stem cells," he said.
The cells were taken from an area on the boy's body that was
not covered with the blisters typical of the disease, he said.
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