NEW YORK — Among the myriad traits separating humans from the unsophisticated hordes of lesser mammals, perhaps the least celebrated is our ability to sweat from hairy body parts.
That neglect, it turns out, is undeserved. Perspiring at the crotch and the armpit might not have led to dominion over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all creeping things that creepeth upon the Earth — but understanding it could potentially lead to better treatments for those with severe burns.
That, at least, is Catherine Lu’s hope. As a cell biology researcher at Rockefeller University, her eventual goal is to create a skin graft that can cool itself off with its very own beads of sweat. To do that, she needs to figure out how sweat glands grow in the first place.
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