Boy is given new skin thanks to gene therapy

(Ruhr-University Bochum) A medical team at the Ruhr-Universit ä t Bochum's burn unit and the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Modena (Italy) were the first ever to successfully treat a child suffering from extensive skin damage using transplants derived from genetically modified stem cells. The boy is a so-called butterfly child: he suffers from epidermolysis bullosa, a genetic skin disease that had destroyed approximately 80 percent of his epidermis.
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news