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Medical researchers have saved the life of a seven-year-old boy by growing genetically-modified replacement skin for him. The young German boy suffered from a deadly congenital condition called epidermolysis bullosa, a condition that cases the sufferer’s skin to tear and blister, as if it had been burned. The procedure not only saved his life, but he’s now able to participate in sports with his classmates.

By 2015 the patient had been admitted to the burns unit at Bochum Children’s Hospital in Germany: at that point, two-thirds of his skin was either was either badly damaged or outright missing, and traditional treatments failed to yield results, including skin grafts from a donor.
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We have bacteria that can gobble up oil spills (NOTE: Subscribers can still listen to this show), and now we may have a virus that can attack pimples. Doctors have discovered a harmless virus living on our skin that naturally seeks out and kills the bacteria that cause pimples.

Dermatologist Robert Modlin says, "Acne affects millions of people, yet we have few treatments that are both safe and effective. Harnessing a virus that naturally preys on the bacteria that causes pimples could offer a promising new tool against the physical and emotional scars of severe acne."
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If there’s one thing we’re all entangled with, it’s our skin, and this valuable outer covering may eventually be able to help us to find cures that will save our lives in many different ways, from curing cancer to repairing our spinal cords so paralyzed people can walk again. How? Stem cells! We are learning more and more new ways to heal ourselves–and our planet (NOTE: Subscribers can still listen to this show).

Our skin is the largest organ on our body and it’s also one of the few organs that we are able to lose pieces of since it (mostly always) regenerates. It also contains a number of different types of stem cells, which are are less likely to be rejected since they are from the donor’s own body (unlike stem cells taken from embryos).
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