A gut-clinging worm with a proboscis that swells has inspired a new approach to healing and protecting wounds normally treated with sutures, staples and adhesive dressings.Traditional methods for protecting and sealing wounds, such as staples, sutures and adhesive dressings have limitations.

Actelion (SIX: ATLN) has announced that VALCHLOR™ (mechlorethamine), the first and only FDA-approved topical formulation of mechlorethamine, is now available for patients in the United States (US).

The layers of skin that form the first line of defence in the body's fight against infection have revealed a unanticipated secret.The single cell type that was thought to be behind the skin's immune defence has been found to have a doppelganger, with researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute showing the cells, despite appearing identical, are actually two different types.

Skin provides a first line of defense against viruses, bacteria and parasites that might otherwise make people ill. When an injury breaks that barrier, a systematic chain of molecular signaling launches to close the wound and re-establish the skin's layer of protection.

Researchers who found giving mice baths in diluted bleach blocked inflammatory processes that damage skin suggest if the same works in humans, then it could offer a new way to treat skin inflammation from radiotherapy or excessive sun exposure, or even skin damage caused by aging.

How do cells spread to cover and close a wound? A team of researchers led by IST Austria Professor Carl-Philipp Heisenberg, including first author Pedro Campinho, PhD student in the Heisenberg group, publishes new insights into epithelial cell spreading in the current online edition of Nature Cell Biology.

A study led by Nancy Bergstrom, Ph.D., associate dean at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Nursing, found that nursing homes that utilize high-density foam mattresses may not need to turn residents every two hours to prevent pressure ulcers, a practice that has been used for over 50 years.

Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Limited has announced that analyses of its Phase III US study (CUV039) evaluating the administration of SCENESSE® (afamelanotide 16mg) to patients diagnosed with erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) had shown a clinically meaningful treatment effect. The drug was well tolerated with no safety concerns identified.

Though genetics of skin pigmentation has shown recent advancements in the last decade, studies involving populations of South Asia, one of the major hot spots of pigmentation diversity, is still in its infancy.

Young animals are known to repair their tissues effortlessly, but can this capacity be recaptured in adults? A new study from researchers at the Stem Cell Program at Boston Children's Hospital suggests that it can.