Stratatech Corporation announced that the company has genetically engineered its StrataGraft to actively fight against costly bacterial infections which routinely develop at the burn site and other severe skin injuries, such as skin ulcers. StrataGraft skin-substitute enables the immediate topical delivery of a potent anti-infective that actively inhibits bacterial growth and promotes re-growth of the patient’s own cells. StrataGraft is a genetically-engineered living human skin substitute which was generated using a non-viral vector, or carrier. The company believes it is the first time a virus-free approach has been used to genetically modify a living, cell-based tissue substitute. The data published demonstrates that the modified tissue contained 139-fold more anti-infective proteins called host defense peptides than unmodified tissue in vitro. An in vivo model of an infected, third-degree burn was used to assess the bacteria-fighting ability of StrataGraft. The study showed that the modified tissue reduced the growth of A. baumannii by 100-fold compared to unmodified tissue. The unmodified tissue contained a bacterial level that exceeded the criteria for clinical infection. A. baumannii is a pathogenic, multi-drug-resistant bacterium responsible for an increasing number of virulent hospital-acquired infections.