The Invention of Artificial Skin

Published: Oct. 3, 2018, 7:50 a.m.

How a chemist and a surgeon found a way of helping burns to heal. Chemist Ioannis Yannas was working alongside surgeon John Burke when they first made the breakthrough using a membrane made of collagen to cover burns which were too large for skin grafts.

Photo: Professor Ioannis Yannas with some of his collagen membrane. Credit: MIT.