The "Skin Gun"

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By Phillip Torrone
Posted 2011/02/02 @ 6:00 pm
Category General

The “Skin Gun”. A simple idea backed by stem cell research. It’s a spray gun that sprays skin. It uses your own cells, and the new skin is sprayed on – within a few *days* it’s completely healed. Still experimental, very promising.

So first up, medical advances and within 10 years graffiti artists will be skinning up buildings with their own DNA.

BY Phillip Torrone

Editor at large - Make magazine. Creative director - Adafruit Industries, contributing editor - Popular Science. Previously: Founded - Hack-a-Day, how-to editor - Engadget, Director of product development - Fallon Worldwide, Technology Director - Braincraft.

In the Maker Shed

15 Responses to The "Skin Gun"

IronicNet on February 3rd, 2011 at 2:18 am said:

“This video contains content from National Geographic, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds”

i hate when this kind of things happens…

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- Anonymous on February 5th, 2011 at 9:44 pm said:
  
  Mirror of this video (metaphorically & literally): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y5H9Sasq5U
  
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Harvey Summers on February 3rd, 2011 at 2:21 am said:

This is the point with the slang dictionary redefined “gimme some skin”

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Dean on February 3rd, 2011 at 2:57 am said:

Holy frikkin wowness!

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Dean on February 3rd, 2011 at 2:57 am said:

Holy frikkin wowness!

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Steve on February 3rd, 2011 at 4:59 am said:

Jealousy. Four days, no scars, no pain. That’s incredible. I wish that technology existed six years ago. As a burn victim, I understand the specific need here. Graft rejection rates are in the neighborhood of 20% for your average patient, and with a 3rd degree burn of more than ~40% of total body area, you don’t have enough graftable skin for a 20% failure rate. Which means re-harvests. Which mean ~2 weeks of waiting for skin to regrow while you sit there in agony. This is like Star Trek.
These scientists/doctors/engineers working on this project need to: a) be given whatever funding they ask for, and b) work their asses off. Also, if it really works and is safe, the FDA should jump on certifying this. Patient rehab could be cut down immensely.

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Anonymous on February 3rd, 2011 at 6:01 am said:

I wish they had a bone gun. Wait, my insurance company didn’t want you to know I’d broken my leg.

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Anonymous on February 3rd, 2011 at 1:25 pm said:

As a nurse that has worked with burn patients, this is freaking awesome! Fast track the approval on this thing!

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Anonymous on February 3rd, 2011 at 1:25 pm said:

As a nurse that has worked with burn patients, this is freaking awesome! Fast track the approval on this thing!

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Anonymous on February 3rd, 2011 at 1:25 pm said:

As a nurse that has worked with burn patients, this is freaking awesome! Fast track the approval on this thing!

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Diarmuid Wrenne on February 3rd, 2011 at 1:58 pm said:

I can’t watch the video in Ireland due to copyright but this idea is not new. Fiona Wood has a patent on spray on skin and it was used with the Bali Bombing burn victims that were airlifted to Perth in 2002.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona_Wood
http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=OPGCAAAAEBAJ&dq=fiona+wood

The idea is that instead of culturing skin cells to the point where a skin is actually formed, the cells are cultured in CSL to the prompt where enough new cells have formed and then are applied on to the burn area, where they do their thing. Critically, this reduces scarring and is less “patchy’ than grafts.

The stem cell aspect of this video may be new as I don’t thing the Fiona Wood patent uses them

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Kathy Kate Rager Thornton on February 5th, 2011 at 10:19 pm said:

OMG This is Amazing ! ! !

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Kathy Kate Rager Thornton on February 5th, 2011 at 10:19 pm said:

OMG This is Amazing ! ! !

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Maggie Radford on March 25th, 2011 at 9:54 pm said:

THIS IS AMAZING. I’d fund that.

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Harry Cunningham on May 20th, 2011 at 11:37 am said:

“The content provider has not made this video available in your country”

Is it too much to ask that people who post videos make sure they’re available OUTSIDE the USA? I know the USA is the centre of the world, and all, but come on.

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