I’m currently in the final states of recovery and repair from my recent surgeries. Because my left foot had to be opened up to remove the infected tissue and bones and whatnot, there wasn’t enough natural skin left on my foot to seal it back up with stitches.
So we now have to turn to a skin graft. The skin graft will be applied directly to the wound on my foot, which should allow me to heal up nicely. I had my first treatment last week, and I’m going for my second treatment today.
The treatments involve placing this biologically-engineered skin – a product called Apligraf – to the wound area. The Apligraf bonds with my current skin and tissue and will hopefully seal up the wound and become as much a part of my skin as the rest of my natural-born skin.
That’s all well and good.
Then I found out what the Apligraf is made from. And it blew my mind.
Apligraf’s construction comes from the combination of bovine collagen and neonatal human foreskin. That’s right. Cow leather and baby foreskin.
From what I understand, the neonatal foreskin is bio-engineered to stretch from tiny fragments to the length of a football field. And then that substrate is impregnated with the bovine materials.
Hoo boy. Or should I say … Moo boy.
I mean, I shouldn’t get too freaked out over stuff like this. Animal tissues and organs have been used in medical research for centuries. Heck, I’ve even heard of pig hearts being used as temporary human hearts until a suitable donor heart can be sourced.
But … yeah … maybe it’s one of those things where I can enjoy the frankfurter without knowing how it’s made.
Although … after these treatments … I’m finding myself more inclined to dine on Hebrew National meats for some mysterious reason. 😀
Chuck The Writer 