Scientists make ‘second skin’ material that makes people look young

The material could be used to protect and tighten skin, smooth wrinkles, and even deliver drugs, according to those behind it

Beyoncé at the Met Gala, in a dress that some people pointed out looked like a piece of skin ( Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Scientists have developed a “second skin” that would sit on top of people’s bodies, making them look young and delivering drugs.

The material is a silicon-based polymer that would be applied on top of people’s normal skin as a thin coating, according to the scientists that have developed it. That would give the skin beneath the properties of much younger, healthy skin, they say.

Already in tests the skin has allowed people to reshape eyebags and improve their skin hydration. Eventually it could even be used to keep people’s real skin from damage from ultraviolet rays and deliver drugs into the body, according to the researchers.

"It's an invisible layer that can provide a barrier, provide cosmetic improvement, and potentially deliver a drug locally to the area that's being treated,” said Daniel Anderson, an associate professor in MIT's department of chemical engineering and one of the authors of the paper, in a statement. “Those three things together could really make it ideal for use in humans.”

As skin gets older, it tends to become less firm and elastic, especially if it is exposed a lot to the sun. That lack of firmness means the skin is much less effective in protecting against extreme temperatures, toxins in the air and injury.

The new skin has been in development for 10 years and those behind it hope it can be used to return some of those same properties. It was assembled by gathering together different polymers and finding the ones that are closest to the look and feel of healthy skin.

"Creating a material that behaves like skin is very difficult," says Barbara Gilchrest, an author of the paper. "Many people have tried to do this, and the materials that have been available up until this have not had the properties of being flexible, comfortable, nonirritating, and able to conform to the movement of the skin and return to its original shape."

To have the skin applied to the body, people would first have components applied to the skin and then have platinum read across it, which encourages the polymer to form a film across the skin for the next 24 hours. Those would both be applied as ointments, and once on would become invisible.

The researchers tested the second skin by using it where eyelid bags would form, and found that it would tighten the skin and make them less visible. It had a similar effect on other parts of the body, the researchers found.