allografts can be left on permanently without rejection. Genetically modified pigs can produce allograft-equivalent skin material, and tilapia skin is used as an experimental cheap xenograft in places where porcine skin is unavailable and in veterinary medicine. By thickness: Split-thickness A split-thickness skin graft (STSG) includes the epidermis and part of the dermis. Its thickness depends on the donor site and the needs of the person receiving the graft. It can be processed through a skin mesher which makes apertures onto the graft, allowing it to expand up to nine times its size. Split-thickness grafts are frequently used as they can cover large areas and the rate of autorejection is low. The same site can be harvested again after six weeks. The donor site heals by re-epithelialisation from the dermis and surrounding skin and requires dressings. Full-thickness A full-thickness skin graft consists of the epidermis and the entire thickness of the dermis. The donor site is either sutured closed directly or covered by a split-thickness skin graft. Composite graft A composite graft is a small graft containing skin and underlying cartilage or other tissue. Donor sites include, for example, ear skin and cartilage to reconstruct nasal alar rim defects. Donor selection When grafts are taken from other animals, they are known as heterografts or xenografts. By definition, they are temporary biologic dressings which the body will reject within days to a few weeks. They are useful in reducing the bacterial concentration of an open wound, as well as reducing fluid loss. For more extensive tissue loss, a full-thickness skin graft, which includes the entire thickness of the skin, may be necessary. This is often performed for defects of the face and hand where contraction of the graft should be minimized. The general rule is that the thicker the graft, the less the contraction and deformity. Cell cultured epithelial autograft (CEA) procedures take skin cells from the person needing the graft to grow new skin cells in sheets in a laboratory; because the cells are taken from the person, that person's immune system will not reject them. However, because these sheets are very thin (only a few cell layers thick) they do not stand up to trauma, and the "take" is often less than 100%. Research is investigating the possibilities of combining CEA and a dermal matrix in one product. Experimental procedures are being tested for burn victims using stem cells