Band-aid made of youthful protein stops wounds from scarring

A surgical scar on a person's arm — Surgical wounds can leave lasting scars

By Alice Klein

A band-aid made of a protein that’s more common in fetal skin can heal wounds quickly, with no visible scarring.

We know from in utero surgery that fetus skin doesn’t scar. One reason for this is that it contains scaffolds of a protein called fibronectin that help re-order skin cells after injury.

But skin loses most of this fibronectin by birth. From then on, it re-forms in a haphazard way when it’s damaged, leaving thick, lumpy scars. Christophe Chantre at Harvard …