Paris: French scientists have used human embryonic stem cells to grow human skin cells, a report in the medical journal Lancet reveals.

Scientists working for Inserm , France’s medical research agency, treated the embryonic cells and grew them on a matrix, before grafting them onto mice. The cells proceeded to grow into skin.

This procedure may be used in medical treatments for temporary cover for burns patients while their own skin is grown, also in a lab, over a period of weeks.