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We’re scratching our skin
We wound it.
We injure it, and
every four weeks time, you’ve got a brand new
skin surface.
When I first chose skin as a model system to study
we knew virtually nothing about these skin cells.
I grew up in a family that was very
concerned about doing something with your life that is meaningful and helping people.
Elaine Fuchs’ investigations of the skin started with understanding its basic biology.
What makes our skin grow?
I had spent a good decade of my career working on keratins at a time when
my colleagues, really questioned my sanity.
And so I began really from the ground up.
Fuchs spent her early career understanding the protein Keratin.
We learned in our studies
that these are proteins that
assemble into fibers.
It’s almost like giving the cell a framework, like giving a building
a steel network. These keratin proteins really make the difference, they really provide mechanical
strength. Without the proper keratin network
the cells are like eggshells. As long as you don’t put mechanical stress to the egg
the egg doesn’t break. But as soon as you
put mechanical stress to the egg, in this case the skin, the cells just break underneath the stress.
Fuchs worked on inherited diseases and discovered the genetic basis for two debilitating
and blistering skin diseases.
It took me a period of three decades to learn enough about skin biology that we could really
tackle “Where are the stem cells?” “Why is it that these cells
are capable of repairing wounds?” Stem cells are used to grow new issues especially for burn patients.
Today, Fuchs hopes her work with stems cells will lead to the development of new drug therapies targeted for skin diseases.
Now that I'm comfortable with the uncomfortable
I've learned over the years no matter how much you feel like you're discovering
that discovery
is always left with more questions than it answers.