A FULL thickness artificial skin which should dramatically reduce the pain and scarring associated with skin grafts is being developed by Sydney researchers.

Burns experts from the University of Sydney and Concord Hospital have started animal trials of a living skin that is grown outside the body and is completely functional when grafted on to the body.

Unlike traditional skin grafts, which involve only the thin outer layer of the skin known as the epidermis, the new skin will be able to replace the crucial second layer of skin called the dermis.

This layer is responsible for functions such as temperature control, perspiration, toughness and elasticity, and when it is missing, the body reacts by producing large swathes of scarring underneath the skin graft.

"It takes the body weeks to grow into a skin graft and in that time a lot of excess elastic fibres and collagen will be produced that will then turn into a scar," said the skin co-creator Peter Maitz, chairman for burn, injury and reconstructive surgery at the University of Sydney. "This is a huge problem, particularly around the face, hands or genital area," he said. "The scar contracts and it can get so tight that patients lose the movement of their mouth and can't talk, or they can't bend their fingers".