[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help] 

Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

Sunny Hostin FUMES as she's FORCED to read legal note ON AIR minutes after SMEARING Matt Gaetz

Gangs looting Gaza aid operate in areas under Israeli control, aid groups say

Trans activist using the womens bathroom slides his phone under the stall to film a woman.

Trump and the Constitution

Is This The Secret Reason Why Long-Range Missiles Have Been Fired Deep Into Russian Territory?

Rand Paul To Get New Position In Senate After GOP Takeover

Fresh Science Finds that Plants Absorb 31% More CO2 than Previously Believed. CO2 Is Beneficial

Israeli attacks on Gaza leading to increase in birth defects

More than 200 children killed in Lebanon amid Israeli bombardment: UN

FBI Director Loses His Cool When Trump's AG Reads Hunter Biden's Shocking Text Message

The Judgment Fund: Democrats Secret Slush Fund for Ideological Payoffs

SpaceX president says we could easily see 400 Starship launches in next four years

Former agent unintentionally makes pitch for Kash Patel to run FBI: 'Extremely dangerous'

A Once-In-A Decade Bomb Cyclone Will Dump Up To 20 Inches Of Rain On California

Default Rates on Household Loans are SKYROCKETING

More Trump appointments, Nancy Mace OCTUPLES DOWN, and more delish lib tears [Livestream starts at 0800 EST]

The Link Between Blood Types And Risks of COVID-19, Cancer, And Other Diseases

50 Times Thrift Shops Delivered Comedy Gold, As Shared By “Ridiculous Thrifter”

Sunny Hostin FUMES as she's FORCED to read legal note ON AIR minutes after SMEARING Matt Gaetz

Gen. Flynn: Democrats Must Remove President Biden Now

Which TV Networks Will Be Crushed By RFK Jr's Crackdown On Pharma Ad Spending

Gallup: Public Support For Gun-Bans Craters

Lefties Now Hate RFK JR So Much They are Drinking Seed Oils

My Favorite 5 Legumes That Fight Cancer, Repair The Body & Boost Longevity | Dr. William Li

Trudeau tells Parents to Prioritize CLIMATE CHANGE over their STARVING Children

Musk Goes All In On 'Judge Dredd' Matt Gaetz, Notes 'Douchebag' Garland Never Brought Charges

Germany to send 4,000 AI-guided drones to Ukraine.

Jordan Peterson - My Honest Opinion of Tulsi Gabbard

Horse is roaming those free pastures on Twitter.

Douglas Murray on Planet Elon


Science/Tech
See other Science/Tech Articles

Title: Human Limb Regeneration Is No Longer Just a Job for the Men in Black
Source: AMCTV
URL Source: [None]
Published: Jul 8, 2009
Author: Alex Zalben
Post Date: 2009-07-08 15:21:58 by Prefrontal Vortex
Keywords: None
Views: 121
Comments: 1

Human Limb Regeneration Is No Longer Just a Job for the Men in Black

Scifi characters are fairly adept at re-growing their limbs: Wolverine constantly recovers from amputations; Jeebs in Men in Black can get his head blasted off and have a new one in place in a few seconds with only a mild headache; and Terminator 2's T-1000 can take repeated blows to the head and body like pebbles being dropped into a pond (provided he's not himself dropped into molten metal). In real life, we're not so lucky. A human being can re-grow a fingertip if its amputated above the first joint, but that's about it... unless of course the Center for Regenerative Therapies in Dresden, Germany has their way.

Scientists abroad are studying a rare breed of Mexican lizard, the axolotl salamander, which may hold the key to human limb regeneration. Salamanders are well known for their ability to re-grow limbs after amputation, but the axolotl has the ability to regenerate jaws, skin, organs and parts of its brain and spinal chord, and do so at a much faster rate than normal salamanders. When an axlotl is injured, its wound is quickly covered with a stem-cell like growth, out of which sprouts the replacement body part.

"Humans do repair tissue but they don't repair it perfectly," says Elly Tanaka, one of the researchers at the Center. "The axolotl under certain injury conditions can go into kind of a mode where they repeat the process of the embryo." Tanaka has genetically engineered a pigmentless strain of axolotl and inserted a glowing green gene from a jellyfish to witness the process of regeneration up close. Clearly, she's never seen Godzilla, or she'd be aware of the consequences of injecting lizards with radioactive green stuff.

OK, so lizards can do it and aliens can do it. But how close are humans to regrowing our limbs? Scientists at the Center are mapping the genome of the axolotl, which is ten times larger than the human genome in the hopes of mapping the trait and transferring it to human beings. Tanaka and her team are confident, claiming they'll be able to insert the trait in humans in under two decades. The Department of Defense shares their optimism, and has allocated $6.25 million towards their research in anticipation of healing wounded vets.

Of course, if scientists continue down this path, they'd be wise to heed the lessons of Spider-Man's Dr. Curt Connors, who's been in the background of the first three Spider-Man movies and will (reportedly) be playing a large part in the fourth. Played by Dylan Baker, Dr. Connors is Peter Parker's one-armed professor who ends up experimenting with reptile DNA to re-grow his lost appendage, and turns himself into a monstrous, human-sized Lizard that terrorizes New York. Will experiments with the axolotl lead to superhero fights and madness? Perhaps not, but Tanaka should at least be aware of any unusual mood swings when she gets to the human testing stage.

In the meantime, machines from the future and aliens from other galaxies appear to have cornered the limb-growing market. So until Tanaka and her team unlock the secrets of the axolotl, call the Men in Black and try your best to hold onto your butts.

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest

#1. To: Prefrontal Vortex (#0)

The Department of Defense...has allocated $6.25-million towards their research in anticipation of healing wounded vets.

Now, there was a smart move in getting research grants. Tanaka sounds like one sharp cookie so her team may actually get somewhere in unraveling the DNA that brings about limb regeneration.

Tatarewicz  posted on  2009-07-08   19:17:42 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest


[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help]