Boy given genetically modified skin covering his whole body

A BOY of seven with a life-threatening inherited disease has been given a new coat of genetically modified skin covering 80 per cent of his body.

Brave Hassan was admitted to hospital close to death from junctional epidermolysis bullosa, which causes skin to blister and tear at the slightest touch.

Plastic surgeon Professor Tobias Hirsch said: “He’d lost nearly two-thirds of his skin. We were sure he would die.”

But in a world first, scientists took a 4cm patch of skin and corrected a disease-causing gene defect in its cells.

The tissue was then grown into strips grafted on in three operations.

Syrian-born Hassan, who was admitted to Germany’s Bochum Children’s Hospital in 2015, can now live a normal life after as his skin no longer blisters and peels.

Hassan’s full details have not been released to protect his family’s privacy, but his Dad said the transformation was “like a dream”.

He said: “Hassan feels like a normal person now, he plays, he’s being active, he’s enjoying his life and he’s not the way he was before.”

Dr Michele de Luca, from the University of Modena, Italy, who led the gene therapy team, said: “The patient was in danger of life. The prognosis was very poor, but he survived.

“He went back to normal life, including school and sports. His epidermis is stable; robust. It doesn’t blister at all and functionality is quite good.”

Prof Hirsch added: “If he gets any bruises they just heal as normal skin heals.”

He said the child was using a home trainer and playing football.

Treating Hassan has provided useful scientific information that improved understanding of how skin was regenerated and maintained, said the scientists.

The research showed that the human epidermis is sustained by a small number of long-lived stem cells with a powerful ability to renew themselves.

These were vital to the process that allowed the skin to regenerate itself completely about once every month.

Hassan can now live and play like a normal child