Finding natural solutions to rejuvenate damaged skin and bones

Researchers are working on new, nature-based solutions to help repair skin and bones, and the new method involves using silkworms and even shrimp.

Researchers are trying to decode tissue engineering as a new strategy to address the growing need for surgeries or organ transplants needed in the event of diseases, accidents or age-related issues.

Silk is now emerging as a promising nature-based option to stimulate human tissue to regenerate itself.

Several studies are underway to test this technology, including SHIFT, which aims to find out how natural materials can help tissues create natural blood vessels through the process of tissue engineering.

The EU-funded SHIFT project runs for five years, until 2026, and includes universities in Europe, as well as partners in Asia and Australia.

The project aims to scale up methods of skin, bone and cartilage regeneration using biopolymers and prepare them for clinical trials. The goal is to make them capable of repairing larger wounds and tissue damage.

SHIFT project partners have designed several devices containing biopolymers capable of promoting the regeneration of skin, bone and cartilage.

The project aims to advance research and design innovative, scalable, nature-based structures that promote angiogenesis to treat widespread chronic diseases, such as large bone and cartilage defects and chronic wounds (e.g., diabetic ulcers).

Furthermore, another EU-funded project known as SkinTERM, which will run for about five years until mid-2025, is looking at new ways to make tissues regenerate, with a focus on the skin.

To treat burns and other superficial wounds today, a small layer of skin is often grafted from another part of the body. This often results in disfiguring scars, and the patient's movement can be affected as the tissue contracts as it heals. These current methods can also be painful.

Through the SkinTERM project, researchers are trying to treat skin wounds by reproducing the genetic development of adult skin, aiming to regenerate rather than repair the skin.

Researchers are studying a particular mammal - the spiny mouse - that has a remarkable ability to heal without scarring. It is able to repair damage to other tissues such as the heart and spinal cord, too. This is also true of the skin of early fetuses.

The team is examining these systems to learn more about how they work and the processes that occur in the area surrounding the cells, known as the extracellular matrix.

The researchers hope to identify factors that may play a role in the regeneration process, and test how to stimulate it in humans.

According to a recent report published in Horizon magazine, silk produced from purebred silkworms could be used to build a kind of scaffold in damaged tissue.

Using this scaffold, cells in these damaged tissues can form new tissues and blood vessels.

According to the report, the procedure could be used to treat conditions such as diabetic ulcers and lower back pain.

The SHIFT team was trying to find less invasive options that could be used to deliver the treatment into patients' bodies.

By the end of the SHIFT project, the team aims to have two or three prototypes using silkworms or other marine organisms that could directly benefit humans.

Teams are also looking at how waste from the textile and food industries can be used to come up with solutions to help humanity.