Sunday December 25, 2022 | 1:00 a.m.
Laboratory of the Urgo group, in Chenôve, eastern France. Photo: TN
Laboratory of the Urgo group, in Chenôve, eastern France. Photo: TN
A group of researchers in France is developing artificial skin to heal large burns on humans. In this way, many of the people who are injured will be able to cope with the situation in the best possible way, once again, thanks to technology.
For 18 months, a team from the laboratory of the French company Urgo has been working on the creation of this innovation that should allow severely burned patients to recover without having to resort to the numerous and painful skin transplants as is the case now.
This is the “Genesis” project, which was born in the town of Chenôve, near Dijon, in the east of the country.
Genesis, the French project
Numerous public and private health actors are participating in this development with a budget of 100 million euros ($106 million) that should end in 2030.
“You have to be able to recreate all of the skin’s functionalities,” such as protection against external threats or thermal regulation, explains Guirec Le Lous, president of the Urgo medical branch, a family business created in 1880.
In the laboratory, they keep living cells cold before growing them.
“Are we able to conceive artificial skin in a laboratory? No one in the world has achieved it so far,” says the leader, without wanting to reveal the technology used or the type of cells used.
The industrial part must also be considered because this treatment must be “available to all and at a good price”. It is a “crazy” project, they say.
