I never knew what skin cell research was before. I didn’t even know that it existed. Before us stood an actual skin cell research scientist, Dr. Steven Duguay (PHD). He, and his team of scientists treat burn victims. They’ve even treated some victims who have burned up to 86% of their body through cell therapy! Cell therapy is only FDA approved for two products. Dr. Duguay’s company Genzyme owns both those treatments. What they do is take samples of the victim’s skin, usually below the belt or under the armpit (because that may be the only parts that aren’t burned). Then they take small parts and duplicate the cells and take the new cells and put them in nutrients. When they put the skin cells in the nutrients you can barely see them, then they actually grow to fill the flask! This nutrient is a pink clear liquid that gives the cells the things that they need to live. Dr. Duguay said that it only takes them two weeks to grow enough cells to cover 86% of their body, saving lives of burn patients who would die without this kind of treatment. The actual skin is translucent, but after time some of the pigment of your skin may return. Little feeling is left in your skin, yet over time the nerve cells start to regenerate, and some feeling returns.

There were actually samples of the skin and nutrients that Dr. Duguay passed around for us all to see. It was very interesting to see the different stages of the skin growing. Especially because they only grow about a VHS tape’s worth of skin in one flask. So, they have to grow enough skin for 86% of people’s bodies with VHS size pieces. No way, I thought, but the people at Genzyme can! I couldn’t believe how translucent the skin actually was, it was like clear gel! This was so interesting, and for me, it really made me realize how broad the field of science is. When you think of science you always think of robots and machines. This was unexpected to me, this is science, I thought that medical doctors did this! Actually, I didn’t know anyone could do this!

I asked a few students what they thought about meeting Dr. Duguay. Taren and Emily said, “It was really interesting to actually see the skin. It was really cool. It is interesting the work they do to improve the burns on the skin. I have never even heard about that before.”

Dr. Duguay told us some interesting things about what it takes to actually be a scientist. Did you know that all scientists are not always the A students? That usually the B students are the ones that make the best scientists. No matter what your grades are, you need to have the drive to go and do the extra mile to make your experiment successful. There are many failed attempts when trying to make a product in science, but you have to keep going. Thanks to Dr. Duguay, his crew of skilled scientist, and company Genzyme, thousands of people worldwide get treatment. People that would usually die from some kind of infection, because they do not have skin to protect themselves. Now Dr. Duguay and his crew are currently working on a better way to transplant cartilage. Growing this is just like skin therapy, only now they are taking cartilage from your knee. This will be used for people with trouble with the cartilage in their joints rubbing down, particularly the knee. They have already got a product for this, but it is a hassle to put in this product Carticel.

The students that went to the Boston trip would like to thank Dr. Duguay for spending an hour talking to us! He and his group of scientist do great things, and save many lives. Thank You!