China, a nation with a long history of silk utilization, has recently developed a new use for the material.

Scientists from east China's Zhejiang Province have used silk to create a new type of "artificial skin" which is expected to help treat skin defects and reduce scars.

Min Sijia, major developer of the new material and associate professor with the Animal Science Institute of the Zhejiang University based in the provincial capital of Hangzhou, has named the new technology pure silk fibroin biodressing.

Min said as a pure biological product, silk is soft and pliable, blessed with good permeability and natural affinity with human skin. She said some dermatologists even suggest that their patients should wear silk underwear, which is conducive to skin health.

Fascinated by silk's quality and function, Min began to study the possible medical uses of the material in 1996, when she worked for her PhD in Japan.

After 10 years of research, Min succeeded in creating pure silk fibroin material with no chemical residue.

At her lab in Zhejiang University, Min showed the new material to a Xinhua journalist. She put a white, round piece of "artificial skin" on the back of her hand. Then the biodressing quickly connected with her skin in a seamless way.

"It can be made into any shape with a thickness of only half a millimeter. Its softness is similar to that of human skin, with good tenacity and absorption," said Min.

The biodressing is easy to preserve. It can be stored in regular refrigerators and be used after thawing, she added.

Animal tests found that the "artificial skin" could enable an opening of wound with a diameter of three centimeters to heal up in less than 20 days.

It is reported that in China there are 3.2 million patients suffering form skin defects.

Currently, pig and human skin are often used to cure skin defects, which are easy to contaminate and are often immunologically rejected. Though the United States and Japan have begun to make medical dressings with collagen and chitose, the materials are too expensive to be widely used in China.

Min Sijia said the silk fibroin biodressing also has no adhesion with newly grown human tissue under a moisturized condition, leaving no secondary trauma.

The new technology has passed experts' appraisal and been patented, said Min's partner, Han Chunmao.

However, Min said, "The technology still needs more clinical tests before being put into production to benefit skin defect sufferers."

(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2006)