Twenty thousand people each year in the United States suffer major burns, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recovery from a severe burn is slow and painful, and often results in permanently scarred skin and disfigurement.

Researchers now hope new techniques will improve burn recovery. A biotech company in Utah, PolarityTE, has developed a new treatment that uses a patient’s own cells to regenerate full-thickness skin, complete with hair follicles, giving complete wound coverage. The treatment method leaves nearly no scarring and can be initiated quickly, within 48 hours of a burn, the company says.

“Despite the complex, around-the-clock intensive care required to treat burn patients, a burn surgeon is simply in a race to cover the patient with his or her own skin before complications set in,” Stephen Milner, Polarity’s chief clinical officer, said in a conference call for investors. The researchers found that even if infection sets in—always a risk in burn cases—the skin regeneration can still take place.

The researchers say they successfully tested the technique in 80 swine, which they chose because swine skin most closely resembles human skin. Because Polarity uses only natural materials for the treatment, it need not follow the Food and Drug Administration’s typical drug approval process. But to ensure safety, the company plans to run its own human trials, Polarity CEO Denver Lough told Deseret News. (Another company, RenovaCare, is seeking FDA approval for a “SkinGun” that sprays stem cells on burn wounds to regenerate skin.)

Polarity researchers hope doctors eventually will use their technology to regenerate bone, muscle, cartilage, blood vessels, and nerves.

Wheat or white?

White bread has gotten a bad rap from health advocates in recent years, but is it deserved? Not necessarily, say researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science. In their study, published in the June 6 issue of Cell Metabolism, Weizmann researchers found that the health benefits of either industrial processed white bread or high-quality, whole-grain sourdough bread may differ from person to person.

The researchers monitored health markers such as levels of fasting glucose, essential minerals, fat, cholesterol, kidney and liver enzymes, and markers for inflammation and tissue damage for 20 participants who consumed either the white bread or the whole-grain bread for one week.

Surprisingly, nearly half of the study participants had a better immediate blood sugar response to white bread. In addition, each person’s reaction to the breads was directly related to individual differences in intestinal microbes. The researchers hope this discovery will enable health professionals to give individualized nutrition advice, perhaps based on a person’s microbiome. Many experts, though, still insist whole-grain bread is the healthier choice in the long term. —J.B.

Ancient prosthesis

Modern humans are not the only ones who have discovered how to replace missing body parts with artificial ones. Thanks to modern microscopes, X-rays, and computer tomography, an international team of Egyptologists, led by the University of Basel, has just re-examined a wooden prosthetic big toe that is 3,000 years old.

The researchers think the toe, originally discovered in a burial site at the necropolis of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, is the oldest prosthetic device ever found. They determined that someone had refitted the toe several times, and that it belonged to the daughter of a priest. The mobility and durability of the prosthesis show technical know-how. The detailed craftsmanship also indicates the wearer cared about aesthetic appeal and comfort, the researchers said. —J.B.