AI startup Outer Biosciences keeps human skin alive for month-long testing
Outer Biosciences, founded by Michael Polansky, has developed a system that maintains donated human skin alive for up to 30 days to train AI models for cosmetic ingredient discovery.
Michael Polansky, co-founder of Outer Biosciences and partner of Stefani Germanotta, leads a venture that keeps human skin harvested from surgeries alive for up to a month, far longer than standard organ-on-a-chip models. The tissue arrives de-identified from NIH-funded biobanks such as the National Disease Research Interchange and the Cooperative Human Tissue Network, then is nurtured by a custom system that supplies nutrients and removes waste.
Scientists can induce injuries like UVB burns and monitor the healing process over weeks, generating data that trains an AI to forecast which chemicals might improve skin functions. The loop of prediction, testing, and feedback now produces a new candidate about every six weeks, with six active leads and dozens of additional hits. Outer Biosciences, backed by roughly $23 million from investors including Calm Capital and Brighter Capital, plans to license its discovered ingredients to beauty or pharma brands rather than launch its own consumer line. The firm operates a 19-person team mostly outside Cambridge, Massachusetts, while Polansky emphasizes the need to move from private secrecy to public collaboration.
Why it matters
The technology could speed up safe, human-relevant testing of skin products, reducing reliance on animal models.
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