Genetically Modified skin cells can arrest infection in burn patients

Burn patients are very much prone to infection and some of the modern techniques such as cultured skin graft have also not been able to arrest the growth of infection on a patient inflicted by burns. Researchers have found out that genetically modified skin cells when added to cultured skin substitutes can be quite effective in fighting deadly infections in the case of burn patients. The team headed by Dorothy Supp has discovered that genetically modified skin cells are quite effective in producing high levels of human beta defensin which kills more bacteria when compared with ordinary skin cells. Dorothy Supp commented: If we can add these genetically modified cells to bioengineered skin substitutes, it would provide an important defense system boost during the initial grafting period, when the skin is most susceptible to infection. This discovery would certainly help in saving lives of a number of burn patients who die every year due to deadly skin infections.