A team of scientists at the Chennai-based CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute (CSIR-CLRI) has extracted protein from discarded animal tissues and demonstrated a better use in the form of wound healing and human tissue engineering.

Tonnes of animal tissues that are rich in collagen protein go waste in the meat industry. The researchers have found that various collagenous tissues available as inedible by-products in abattoirs can be successfully used for the production of collagen-based products for biomedical applications.

Collagen has been reported to play a major role in healing of tissues, but their low mechanical strength and fast biodegration has restricted its use. The research tried to overcome these limitations by incorporating the collagen with another biopolymer, chitosan, obtained from shells of crustaceans.

The hybrid scaffold is specifically developed for highly exudating wounds to absorb the fluid and to keep the wound dry for faster healing.