A lot of reptiles have the amazing ability to lose a limb and just grow it back. So what to a human would be a life altering disaster is just a mild inconvenience. I’m sure anyone who lost an arm or a leg would like to have the ability to just grow it back.
Researchers in California have come up with the first step in that process. Removing a barrier to regrowing organs.
Basically by removing two cancer-preventing genes they can restart the muscle growing properties of muscle cells. Obviously these genes can only be turned off for a short time or else the cells start becoming cancerous, but in that short time they might be able to repair muscle damage to the heart, or many other places in the body that muscle damage impairs.
As research in this field progresses we might find more ways to regrow different types of tissues and eventually regrow entire organs and limbs.
What today is a lifetime disability like losing an arm, will mean a few weeks in the hospital and your good as new. This will lead to a Fantastic Future.
By Darrell B. Nelson author of Invasive Thoughts
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2 comments:
I thought regrowing limbs was more an invertibrate and amphibian thing. I didn't realize reptiles could do so as well.
I think this has great potential for repairing organs, etc, like damaged livers or kidneys or hearts, but I'm not going to throw confetti just yet on the regrowing whole organs or limbs.
Regrowing whole organs is still a pipe dream outside the body (where gravity preclude any but thin layers). If we could grow them inside the body, where the nutrient, blood, waste disposal system were already in place (as well as the capability to overcome the gravitational limitations), well, that might be readily attainable.
Cool beans if we can do it.
Every journey starts with a single step. This one hell of an encouraging first little step.
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