Printing Skin That Grows Hair
3D bioprinting of prefabricated artificial skin with multicomponent hydrogel for skin and hair follicle regeneration
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
The printed skin regenerated multiple skin appendages — including hair follicles and sebaceous glands — which are almost never restored in current wound treatments.
Most skin grafts and substitutes only close wounds; they don’t restore sweat glands or hair. This study achieved functional regeneration, which is extremely rare in tissue engineering.
Practical Takeaways
Support research into regenerative medicine and tissue engineering through advocacy or funding.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
The printed skin regenerated multiple skin appendages — including hair follicles and sebaceous glands — which are almost never restored in current wound treatments.
Most skin grafts and substitutes only close wounds; they don’t restore sweat glands or hair. This study achieved functional regeneration, which is extremely rare in tissue engineering.
Practical Takeaways
Support research into regenerative medicine and tissue engineering through advocacy or funding.
Publication
Journal
Theranostics
Year
2025
Authors
Xiaoxiao Ma, Xiaohui Zhu, Sheng Lv, Chunyan Yang, Zihao Wang, Meilan Liao, Bohao Zhou, Yiming Zhang, Shiyu Sun, Ping Chen, Zhonghua Liu, Haiyan Chen
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Claims (6)
A special gel helps skin stem cells stay alive, grow, and keep their ability to turn into hair cells when grown in a lab for 3 days.
This special gel can be printed easily, holds its shape well, doesn’t swell much, and stays strong over time—making it a great candidate for printing artificial skin.
Scientists made fake skin using a special 3D printer and put it on wounds in mice. The wounds healed completely, and even grew back hair, blood vessels, and skin layers.
Scientists made fake skin using a 3D printer, and even after keeping it in a lab dish for 12 hours, it still helped grow new skin and hair when put on hairless mice — though the longer it sits in the dish, the less hair it tends to grow.
When skin stem cells are printed in a special gel, they keep their important markers, which means they probably still act like normal skin stem cells and can help heal skin.