The breakthrough was made by a team of scientists at King's College London who used stem cells to grow a viable skin layer that can be used to test out both cosmetic products and medications such as skin ointments.
The lab-grown skin improves upon previous efforts to grow skin from stem cells because it maintains a more life-like epidermis capable of protecting against microbes and keeping moisture from escaping.
"This is a new and suitable model that can be used for testing new drugs and cosmetics and can replace animal models," said lead researcher Dr Dusko Ilic.
"It is cheap, it is easy to scale up and it is reproducible."
'Human epidermal equivalents representing different types of skin could also be grown, depending on the source of the stem cells used, and could thus be tailored to study a range of skin conditions and sensitivities in different populations.'
The artificial skin was derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells created by genetically altering donated fibroblast cells from adult connective tissue.
Kinder: Scientists believe that in the future, lab-grown skin could be used for testing medicinal lotions and creams or cosmetics without causing suffering to animals
A step-by-step process in the laboratory transformed the iPS cells into keratinocytes - the dominant cell type in the outermost layer of the skin - and then pieces of actual skin.
The scientists called their constructs '3D epidermal equivalents'. Tests showed no significant differences in structure or function between the artificial patches and real human skin.
Dr Ilic added: 'When you produce a new cream you need to know how much of it goes through the skin, because if there's too much it can cause damage.
'If you imagine the skin as a three or four-storey building with a roof on top, other people have made the roof but their roofs are always leaking. They could not get their tiles together. We are the first to achieve this.
'Our approach is cost-effective, because once you have the iPS cells you can grow an infinite number."
He said it would be a simple matter to create skin patches measuring 10 square metre rather than one, but pointed out that small fragments might be more useful.
The research is published in the latest edition of the journal Stem Cell Reports.
Ambition: Dr Dusko Ilic, who led the British team from King's College London (pictured) said the new method could be scaled up to allow for commercial testing
New skin cells were grown by turning back the clock of adult cells
He said the same method could be used to test new treatments for skin diseases.
Researcher Dr Theodora Mauro said it would help the study of skin conditions such as ichthyosis - dry, flaky skin - or eczema.
"We can use this model to study how the skin barrier develops normally, how the barrier is impaired in different diseases and how we can stimulate its repair and recovery," she said.
The Humane Society International, which works to protect animals, including those in laboratories, welcomed the research, published in the journal Stem Cell Reports.
Research and toxicology director Troy Seidle said: "This new human skin model is superior scientifically to killing rabbits, pigs, rats or other animals for their skin and hoping that research findings will be applicable to people - which they often aren't, due to species differences in skin permeability, immunology, and other factors."
Properties: IPS cells have the same properties as embryonic stem cells (pictured), including the ability to develop into virtually any kind of tissue in the body
'We can use this model to study how the skin barrier develops normally, how the barrier is impaired in different diseases and how we can stimulate its repair and recovery.'
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