 This became a problem when skin had been damaged extensively, making it impossible to treat severely injured patients with autografts only.A process for inducing regeneration in skin was invented by Dr. Ioannis V. Yannas (then an assistant professor in the Fibers and Polymers Division, Department of Mechanical Engineering, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Dr. John F. Burke (then chief of staff at Shriners Burns Institute in Boston, Massachusetts).Their initial objective was to discover a wound cover that would protect severe skin wounds from infection by accelerating wound closure.