In an accident at the U.S. Air Force base in Bordeaux, France two months ago, Specialist 3/c Rodney Madeira, 20, suffered third-degree burns over 30% of his body, with lesser burns over another 10%. He faced a long and dangerous period in the hospital while growing the skin he needed to cover the burned area.
Flown to the Air Force hospital at Wiesbaden, Germany, Madeira was swathed in dressings of erythromycin (an antibiotic) on fine-mesh gauze. In a month his wounds had healed enough for the doctors to start skin grafts. They covered 20% of the burned area with skin from Madeira's...