Cultured Skin Substitutes

The development of biological substitutes or the fostering of tissue regeneration and remodelling is emerging as a technology at the interface of biotechnology and traditional medicine which has the potential to confront limitations in burn care caused by the shortage of donor tissues. But the concepts of tissue engineering offer perspectives that may even go beyond this object. As the overall mortality from burns continues to fall, the desire to develop protocols that reduce morbidity is furnishing a growing interest in the development of new skin substitutes.The introduction of biotechnologies has undoubtedly allowed quantum leaps in the search for the ultimate off-the-shelf skin replacement and opened areas that were previously inaccessible.This book provides an overview starting from historic developments in burn care and skin cell culture, up to recent trends and currently available cultured skin substitutes. As an illustration of this ongoing process, the development through tissue engineering of a new, composite skin substitute providing both dermal and epidermal components is described in detail. Finally, future perspectives are briefly elaborated on.