Lab-grown 'skin': Research that can make you look young in old age

 A team called the 'Human Cell Atlas' project discovered how stem cells make human skin. Using this information, they have also tried to develop artificial skin in the laboratory.

This project is a global research in which many scientists from different countries are working. However, its center is the United Kingdom.

The main research objective of this project is to understand how each part of the human body is made and what is the individual role of cells in making it.

Through the discovery of this research, not only the signs of aging on the skin can be reduced, but it can also be used for skin transplantation.

With this information, skin scarring can also be prevented.

Professor Muzalfa Hanifa, who is involved in the project, told the BBC that this will help scientists to effectively treat diseases. We will also find new ways to stay healthy longer and maybe even find a way to look younger.'

Professor Hanifa of the Wellcome Singer Institute said, "If we can make some changes in the skin and prevent aging, wrinkles will also be reduced (on the body)."

"If we understand how cells change from their early development to aging, we can try to understand how organs can be kept young, how the heart can be kept young." And how can the skin be rejuvenated?

There is still a lot of work to be done in research, but scientists have figured out how skin cells are formed in the fetus.

When an egg is fertilized, all human cells are identical. However, after three weeks, the genes in the stem cells are 'switched on', through which the different parts of the embryo begin to form.

Researchers have discovered which part of the embryo 'wakes up' at what time to form the skin, the largest organ in the human body.

When they are treated with chemicals and viewed through a microscope, they look like tiny flickering lights.

Embryos that appear orange under the microscope after the chemical is applied develop a skin surface. Those who look yellow decide what the skin color will be.

Apart from these, there are several embryos that form other parts of the skin, through which the skin sweats, hair grows and protects us against germs.

The researchers essentially obtained instructions for making human skin in this study. This information has been published in the journal 'Nature'.

Keeping these guidelines in mind, many interesting possibilities are emerging for scientists.

For example, scientists already know that if the fetal skin is damaged, it heals without leaving any trace.

However, with more research on how skin is formed, it can be seen that skin can be repaired in the same way in youth, especially when surgery is needed.

In a major breakthrough, scientists have discovered that immune cells play an important role in the formation of blood vessels in the skin. They tried to use this information in the laboratory to develop skin.

By applying chemicals to the genes at the right time and in the right place, they awakened parts of them, which allowed them to develop artificial skin.

So far, scientists have artificially created small patches of skin that grow tiny hairs.

Mastering this technique is the main goal of the researchers, said Professor Hanifa.

"If you come to prepare human skin, you can use this technique to help people who have been burned for some reason," he said.

Skin transplant can also be done through this technique.

He said that apart from this technique, if you know how the root of hair is formed, hair can also be grown on bald people's heads.

Skin in a laboratory dish can also be used to understand how inherited skin diseases can be reversed. Potential new treatments for such genetic diseases can be tested.

Instructions to turn genes on and off are sent to the embryo. This process continues from birth to adulthood for the development of all our different organs and tissues.

Researchers of the 'Human Cell Atlas' project have analyzed 100 million cells from different parts of the body over eight years. Researchers have mapped the brain and lungs and are working on the liver, kidneys and heart.

According to Cambridge University professor Sarah Tykeman, the next step is to bring all these body maps together. Professor Tykeman is one of the co-founding scientists of Human Cell et al.

"This process is very exciting because it will provide new information about human physiology (the study of human and animal organs) and anatomy," .

'New books will be printed for new information. These books will tell about our body, tissues and organs and how they work.'

New research will be published in the coming weeks and months that will reveal what genes carry the instructions that cause our organs and other parts to grow.

'Finally we will have information about how humans are made.'