Sunday, September 27, 2020

What to Know About the Genetically Engineered Skin That Saved a Young Boy's Life

 



There have been a plethora of advancements, especially in the scientific field. These advancements have helped save lives and treat several unknown diseases. According to an article by Alice Park on the NYTimesa seven-year-old boy received the most extensive skin transplant yet to treat his health conditions. This patient has a rare genetic disease called junctional epidermolysis bullosa which has caused him to have severe blisters and increased chances of infections. He received donor skin from his father to cover small patches of blisters, however, nothing was effective. They were hopeless until the boy's physicians found a new treatment option. They were able to genetically engineer the skin and cover 80% of the boy's body. This was possible because researchers took Michele De Luca's work "who took people’s skin cells, grew them in the lab, and genetically “fixed” them to no longer carry the disease-causing mutation."The boy now had smooth skin and his skin heals like normal skin. I think this article is really interesting because it shows that more advancements are benefitting many people. This child was suffering from this disease; from daily pain to his doctor's losing hope, he has overcome that phase and is living a happy life. I believe more advancements will proceed as we better our understanding of science and the opportunities we don't know about. 

2 comments:

  1. This is one of the most important reasons genetics is studied and used to fix genetic diseases like this young boy's skin. By the use of genetically "fixing" the skin which is using transgenic cells. This article choice was great for this class and it was a great blog post to read Janvi.

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  2. This shows how well we are advancing with medicine and science. To be able grow skin in a lab then attach it someone to help them is incredible. I really liked this article, it was a unique story that even helped a young boy live.

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