Skin cream began as battlefield aid

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0127skin27.html

A synthesized version of a human protein that gives skin its elastic
properties may someday help wounds heal faster and without scarring. A
synthetic version of elastin may even help regenerate lost fingers and
perhaps limbs.

But for now, a synthetic elastin called Elastatropin has been
relegated to the $14 billion-a-year beauty industry, where it is the
primary ingredient in a high-end face cream called DermaLastyl.

"It pays the bills," said Burt Ensley, the Sedona scientist who
developed Elastatropin as an agent to help heal battlefield wounds.
---SPSmith