Missing Limb? Salamander May Have Answer. Scientists hope that the salamander's tricks may one day be applied to people. Natural regeneration would be easier than transplanting. By Andrew Pollack. [New York Times: Science]

Fascinating stuff. It seems that the systems of "lower" animals (salamanders and a modified form of mice) rather than scarring, regrow lost tissues. This allows them to regrow an entire limb, parts of their eyes, or even their hearts. Scientists hope to discover what mechanism allows this to happen, so that humans with lost limbs can benefit as well.

"So far, natural regeneration remains a medical backwater, garnering little attention. That may be understandable. Scientists have been studying natural regeneration for 200 years and have not gotten far in understanding it. Regrowing human arms in the lifetime of Dr. Gardiner, who is 53, will be difficult"

So, unless there is a tremendous breakthrough, it'll be a while before we see this commercially available. However, there is gene which seems to be vital to this process working, and working well:

One gene that appears to be important is msx1. It helps keep cells in an embryo from dividing prematurely. Dr. Keating found that when the gene was turned on in mouse muscle cells that were growing in culture, the cells de-differentiated into stem cells. Another tantalizing clue of the importance of msx1, Dr. Keating said, is that the gene is turned off in people, except in the fingertips, the one part of the body where regeneration has been seen.

Given that, it may well be possible that we can release our own stem cells, by flipping a switch to activate this particular gene in the injured area. Topical gene splicing anyone?

7:47:36 AM