7 Healthcast: Personalized Cell Therapy

UNDATED (WHDH) -- There's a new weapon in the fight against wrinkles, and it's in your own body. It's approved by the FDA and it could help you look younger.

Chris Allegri may be 59, but she doesn't want to look it. Which is why she's trying a new treatment but first she has to give a little of herself.

"So, what I'm going to do is give you a small amount of local anesthetic behind your ear to numb the area," said Dr. Iris Gin, dermatologist.

Dr. Iris gin is collecting a biopsy from behind Chris’ ear -- a tiny skin sample just a tenth of an inch big.

This procedure is called Laviv; the first FDA approved personalized cell therapy to help improve the look of your smile lines.

The skin sample is shipped off to a specialized lab which will grow Chris' fibroblast cells, the skin cells that produce collagen.

It’ll take about three months to produce millions more cells, then they'll be shipped back to dr. gin and she'll inject them into Chris’ face.

"So what we're really actually doing is replacing what the skin loses as we age," Dr. Gin said.

Dr. Gin says because patients use their own skin cells, the risks of lumps or looking overdone are eliminated.

"I like that idea of having my own cells grown and then come back into my body which means they can grow the way they want to grow its not anything artificial," Chris said.

The before and after photos provided by the company that offers Laviv therapy show noticeable improvement in smile lines.

Clinical trials show the results last at least six months.

"I want to age gracefully and anything I can do that's a more natural approach fits my philosophy a bit better," Chris said.

But it comes with a price: Laviv costs $4000 for the entire process, about eight times more than traditional fillers like Juvederm.