get a thick skin

Next time someone tells you to, ‘get a thick skin’, tell them you’re working on it. According to this story in the New York Daily News a company in Germany is working on mass producing artifical skin through a computer that controls the solution the skin grows in. The computer also checks the vats for infection, does regular testing to make sure the skin is up to standard and guides the blade that cuts it into swatches. Most importantly the computer ensures that the artificial skin comes complete with a blood supply making it a much more viable option and reduces the chance of the recipient rejecting it. Sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie right?

This new technique is being heralded as revolutionising the way doctors mend severe burns and cancer patients and is apparently much cheaper than previous alternative skin options. It’s great news for those who need it.

I wonder how long before it’s snapped up by cosmetic surgeons. Face transplant? Out with the old skin, in with the new?