Scientific research is constantly progressing and developing all areas of modern life, and this includes dermatology and skincare. Constant breakthroughs are being made, with the goal of giving everyone the opportunity of having a younger looking, healthier skin.
Below are some of the top picks of new developments in dermatology that very well might change skincare as we know it.
Protein And Laser Therapy For Skin Healing
Singaporean scientists from the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have discovered the properties of a protein called Agrin, which seems to promote skin cell regeneration in the case of wounds.
These discoveries should pave the way to develop new non-invasive procedures for skin health, especially in individuals who suffer from wounds and scars, such as the ones caused by burns or diabetes.
Injuries often remove a large part of the extracellular matrix (ECM), which is the layer of skin that is responsible for correct auto-healing. It has been found that even if this crucial layer is missing, supplementing other types of skin with proteins present within the ECM promotes scarless regeneration.
The IMCB team also found that an easily manufactured recombinant fragment of Agrin called sAgrin can be effective in healing wounds, simply when added to hydrogels which can be applied to skin topically.
Experiments are currently undertaken to see how these therapies can be further developed, and hopefully, become useful to the general public as soon as possible.
In addition to these innovative treatments, many experts in the field are also advocating the use of lasers in dermatology as it can complement the aforementioned treatments and give even greater results.
Treating Skin Infections With Cat Bacteria
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have found that a bacteria commonly found on the skin of healthy cats has properties that can help the skin of other mammals fight off infection.
According to Richard L. Gallo, PhD, who led the team of scientists who made the discovery, these results can be useful for humans, but also for pets such as cats and dogs, Healthy skin is not actually bacteria free.
On the contrary, it is colonized by hundreds of species of bacteria. When the species populations are within a certain balance, this helps the skin to maintain good health.
However, some of these bacteria can cause infections when invading wounds. One such example is the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius bacterium (MRSP).
An increasingly common cause of severe infection and eczema in dogs, cats and humans, this pathogen is resistant to most antibiotics, making it extremely difficult to cure.
To combat the condition, scientists have picked out bacteria that commonly live on skin together with MRSP. From this, they were able to identify a strain of microorganism named Staphylococcus felis, commonly found on cat skin, which seems to naturally produce antibiotics which kill off MRSP by attacking its cell walls and disrupting its internal biology.
This breakthrough is currently being carefully examined and if it brings the results anticipated, it may become common to find cat-bacteria based antibiotic creams in most pharmacies.
These are only a few of the most recent breakthroughs in dermatology that can have a real impact on skincare in the future. We can only be sure that science will always strive to give people new products and technologies to keep their skin in better and better health.
