A team of international scientists working to study the human skin are developing a new treatment to treat allergies, infections and cancer.

The team of scientists have made a new discovery that will increase understanding of the workings of the skin. They used Australian Synchrotron at Clayton to capture high resolution images to study the workings of the skin.

The researchers from Harvard, Melbourne and Monash universities collaborated on the research. They believe that it could lead to the ability to manipulate the human immune system. Professor Dale Godfrey said that the study focused on hoe the immune system detected lipids, which is a fat-like molecule capable of detecting an infection.

Professor Godfrey said that Cancerous cells, bacteria and allergens such as peanuts and pollen all carry different types of lipids. Molecules in the skin detect these lipids and then alert the immune system if they pose a danger to the body.

"We've been able to actually capture very high resolution images, right down to the level of the molecules and the atoms, of how the immune system interacts with these lipids and the immune receptors," Professor Godfrey said.