Laboratories Achieve World’s First Fully Functioning Human Skin with Blood Supply
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On August 21, 2025, researchers at Australia’s University of Queensland (UQ) announced a landmark breakthrough: they have grown the world’s first fully functioning human skin in the laboratory that includes its own blood supply, making it far more life-like than previous models.
Led by Dr. Abbas Shafiee at UQ’s Frazer Institute, the research team used an innovative approach: starting with human skin cells, they reprogrammed them into stem cells. These were then cultivated into 3D skin organoids—miniaturized, simplified versions of natural skin. Crucially, they incorporated tiny blood vessels originating from the same stem cells, allowing the tissue to form with layers, pigmentation, hair follicles, nerves, immune cells, and a functioning microvascular system.
“This is the most life-like skin model that’s been developed anywhere in the world,” Shafiee remarked, emphasizing how this model will significantly enhance the accuracy of disease study and therapeutic testing. Professor Kiarash Khosrotehrani, co-author of the study, noted that this milestone could dramatically improve outcomes for skin grafts, as well as treatments for inflammatory and genetic skin conditions such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and scleroderma.
This breakthrough comes after six years of continuous development, underscoring both the complexity of reproducing skin functionality and the determination of the research team.
The availability of such a high-fidelity human skin model opens new frontiers for regenerative medicine, offering realistic platforms for testing drugs, refining graft techniques, and advancing personalized treatments without relying on animal testing. For patients suffering from chronic skin disorders or severe burns, this development signals a brighter future.
In summary, the University of Queensland’s achievement represents a remarkable stride forward in biomedical engineering—a leap that stands to transform the way we understand, treat, and regenerate human skin.
