Hulk-green artificial skin developed from algae

Professor Tomas Egana, from the Institute of Biological Engineering at Santiago's Catholic University of Chile, came up with the green-coloured artificial skin dubbed as Hulk.

The main substance of this skin is microalgae. Egana came up with the idea of using plants as a way around a major problem in developing artificial skin for the body. Artificial skin cannot produce oxygen but Egana's plant-based solution uses photosynthesis to do so.

For example, when we apply artificial skin what we have is the characteristics of plants which means when it is lit up it can produce oxygen. Also, these micro-algae can be genetically modified so that in addition to producing oxygen they will produce different factors, for example antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and pro-regenerative molecules. So, we are going to have material which is completely artificial and still, which is a structure that has material that is alive and which will produce oxygen and which will produce pro-regenerative molecules," he said.

Common artificial skin does not contain the blood vessels needed for it to be successfully transplanted onto a human body. The lack of blood vessels mean it cannot pass through oxygen.

According to predictions, the algae in the artificial skin should die in about ten days, which could provide enough time for it to be better incorporated into the body and for the green colour to fade away.

Egana believes that his algae solution could be used in other medical procedures such as in treating open wounds and tumours.

Egana believes that in some instances his algae-based solution could even help patients avoid amputation. "There are many wounds that because they are not able to produce oxygen through the body they do not heal, they are chronic ulcers. They are wounds which for many years are open and in many cases end up being amputated. The idea that we have is that oxygen does not come through the blood vessels but through the material, the very material is what produced it. In this way, wounds that didn't heal now can. This means that for example people can go back to work which an amputation would have prevented them from doing," added Egana.

Animal-testing trials with the green artificial skin have proven a success and now investigators are looking to human trials with hospitals in 2017.

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See the video here:- Reuters
http://mobile.reuters.com/video/2016/12/19/artificial-skin-harnessed-from-algae?videoId=370749191