Skin is central to our story and self-expression. However, after injury, the body often fails to restore its original appearance, as overexpressed repair pathways can end in permanent fibrotic scarring. This excessive accumulation of scar tissue changes skin texture, impacts self-esteem, and impairs normal tissue function for over 100 million people each year.

Team Cornell proposes Klothos, a novel platform to divert pathways away from fibrosis while ensuring sustainable and accessible delivery. Klothos utilizes a gated probiotic system that releases anti-fibrotic peptides when wound-site molecules indicate the onset of unchecked remodeling. These engineered probiotics are spun into an alginate nanofiber matrix with our novel coaxial electrospinner, enabling localized, sustained peptide delivery while reducing off-target effects in the form of a smart bandage.

Klothos is a scalable platform for biologically responsive wound care, advancing cosmetics biotechnology towards a future where uncontrolled scarring is no longer an outcome of skin injury.