By Ed Cara Published January 11, 2025 | Comments (0) | Fresh milkfish being sold at a stall in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Afriadi Hikmal/NurPhoto via Getty The future of burn and wound care is looking fishyin a good way. New research suggests that a greater variety of fish skins can be used as wound dressings than currently assumed. Researchers at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines conducted the study, which aimed to test the feasibility of milkfish (Chanos chanos) skin as a base for skin grafts. The researchers found that milkfish skin was just as durable and effective at curbing microbe growth as tilapia fish skin, an emerging skin graft alternative. The discovery could allow milkfish to become a cost-effective, environmental friendly option for treating serious wounds in poorer areas, the researchers say. In recent years, scientists have explored fish skin as a skin graft material for people and animals. Compared to other animal skin grafts, fish skin is more resistant to potential viral contamination and it may be better at speeding up wound healing. Several fish skin graft products are currently being tested and have even been used during emergency crises like the California wildfires in 2023. Right now, though, the most commonly used fish in these grafts is tilapia. So the Ateneo de Manila researchers wanted to see whether the popular milkfish (known as bangus locally) could also be turned into a wound care treatment.Skin samples from tilapia (top) and milkfish (bottom) immersed in silver nanoparticle solution for sterilization. Bianca Patrice Go/Ateneo de Manila University They collected fresh milkfish and tilapia skins from a local market in Metro Manila, then descaled, rinsed, and cut them into strips. Some of the strips were treated with silver nanoparticles, a common antimicrobial, while others were left alone as controls.Under a microscope, the milkfish skins maintained the structural integrity of their collagen about as well as tilapia did. And the treated milkfish skin also appeared to inhibit bacterial and fungal growth just as well, too. By demonstrating that milkfish skin can be effectively sterilized and used similarly to tilapia skin, this research provides innovative, cost-effective, and sustainable wound-healing solutions, the researchers wrote in their paper, published late last year in BIO Web of Conferences.As popular as milkfish is in places like the Philippines, its skin is typically tossed into the trash. So being able to use milkfish skin as a wound dressing would both help hospitals with fewer resources and reduce environmental waste, too. More research will have to be done to confirm the viability of milkfish skin for grafts, but it could certainly turn into a vital treatment option, the researchers say.This finding has the potential to transform wound care in underserved areas, improving patient outcomes in regions with limited access to advanced medical facilities, they wrote. Scientists elsewhere have also begun to test out other species of fish as the base material for skin grafts, such as cod.Daily Newsletter