On a trip to Las Vegas some years ago, my second-row seats in the audience of "Jubilee" gave me an interesting "ground-up" view of the topless showgirls, where my date and I spent most of the show deciding which dancers had had breast augmentation. From our vantage point, we could practically see the surgical scars.

Well those telltale surgical marks may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to the healing powers of a protein first discovered in embryonic alligators (of all things).

The protein, called "transforming growth factor beta 3," has been created synthetically for a product called "Juvista" currently in clinical trials, with results expected some time in 2008.

So far the results are good. According to Renova, the company manufacturing and testing Juvista, initial trials on more than 1,500 patients to date have shown that application of Juvista to surgical wounds at or shortly after the time of surgery result in "markedly improved subsequent scar appearance in the skin."

No matter how the wound margins are closed (sutures, staples, steristrips or glue), Juvista can even be applied to the surgery site before the procedure, or after the wound margin has been closed. Juvista can be applied by injection or by topical application below an occlusive (air- and water-tight) dressing. Although no price has yet been set for the product, the company estimates Juvista will cost about $400 - about the same as a shot of Botox, but a steal compared to a pair of alligator Manolo's.

So about those alligators...Apparently, Renova's founder, Mark Ferguson, laid the groundwork for developing Juvista in the 1980s while studying cleft palates in alligators. It seems that alligator cleft palates develop prenatally in the same way as they do in humans. As a result, Ferguson often operated on alligator embryos in the womb to further his research. To his surprise (and presumably, the alligator's delight), the embryos were later born without scars. Ferguson surmised that a naturally occurring protein known as "transforming growth factor beta 3," found in higher concentrations in embryos than adults, was promoting the healing.

Now some twenty years and $59 million in venture capital investment later, Juvista may be available at a plastic surgeon near you - within four years in the US, assuming the clinical trials are successful. The sooner the better, considering scarring of the skin afflicts an estimated 42 million patients in the US alone - more than those suffering from diabetes or asthma. But remember, Juvista only works at the time of surgery, so you'll have to learn to love the scars you have now.