Yarn made from human skin could be used as stitches

Scientists have developed a type of yarn made from human skin that could be used as stitches by surgeons and help repair organs.

The collagen biomaterial won't be taken from living humans but instead grown by cells outside of the body, and could provide the next generation of medical textiles that could integrate with the patient.

Described in

a paper

published in the journal Acta BioMaterialia, the fibres built from human skin cells can be braided, twisted, knotted, knitted and even crocheted.

Image:How the biomaterial is made and used. Pic: Acta Biomaterialia/Elsevier

The University of Bordeaux scientists said unlike surgical scaffolding which risks provoking the patient's immune system and causing a reaction, the textile would seamlessly integrate with the host body.

In order to create the textile the team, based mainly at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, grew sheets of human skin tissue, dried it and then cut it into strips.

With these strips woven together, the scientists said they could sew pouches and even create valves and membranes to be implanted into the body.

Although it has only been tested on the flesh of laboratory rats at the moment, the results were staggering, helping severe wounds heal in just two weeks.

A skin graft was also manufactured using the material on an instrument similar to a loom to fix a sheep's artery which had ruptured and was leaking.