THE SCIENCE

The skin is a remarkable tissue. In adult humans it has an area of roughly 2 square meters yet is only a few millimetres thick. It protects the body from the outside environment – including sunlight, temperature, moisture and germs – and enables the body to experience sensations such as heat, itching and pain.

The skin has two main layers – the outer layer is called the epidermis, and the inner layer is the dermis. While the epidermis acts as the protective barrier of the skin, the dermis contains collagen fibers that give the skin its strength. The collagen-producing cells in the dermis are called fibroblasts.

The skin is very effective at repairing itself, for example following a wound or burn injury. However, sometimes the repaired skin heals with a scar. Within a scar the collagen fibres are not properly aligned and the skin does not function normally.

Previously it was thought that all fibroblasts are the same. However, we now know that the dermis contains different kinds of fibroblasts with different roles in skin repair and regeneration. At Fibrodyne we are harnessing the properties of a specific kind fibroblast to produce normal collagen fibers and therefore treat scars.