Scientists found the “holy grail” gene that could one day help humans regrow limbs
www.sciencedaily.com
Scientists studying axolotls, zebrafish, and mice have uncovered a shared set of genes that may one day help humans regrow lost limbs. By identifying powerful “SP genes” involved in regeneration, researchers discovered that disabling these genes stopped proper bone regrowth in salamanders and mice. They then used a gene therapy inspired by zebrafish biology to partially restore regeneration in mice, marking a major step toward future treatments that could replace damaged limbs with living tissue instead of prosthetics.
    • DarkCloud@lemmy.world
      13·
      18 hours ago

      You never heard that Musk had a botched penis enlargement?

      The women he “impregnates” mostly use IVF.

    • Maeve@kbin.earth
      21·
      18 hours ago

      I can’t remember author or short story name, but this evoked the memory of having read a short story I read some three decades or so ago who had vaginas surgically created all over his wife’s body, including several on her face, then invited his friends over to for orgies with her. I don’t recall much else about it either, except her sadness and his ultimate disgust with her, even she merely acquiesced; and in some ways, it sort of reminds me of the orisha who cut off her ear to secure the devotion of her beloved, and found herself banished from him.

  • pageflight@piefed.socialEnglish
    19·
    19 hours ago

    Axolotls are famous for their extraordinary ability to regrow entire limbs along with tails, spinal cord tissue, and parts of organs including the heart, brain, lungs, liver, and jaw.

    Woah, that’s a lot of regeneration.

    Mice can regenerate the tips of their digits, and humans can sometimes regrow fingertips if the nailbed remains intact after injury, allowing skin, flesh, and bone to regenerate.

    TIL.

    Unwritten here is how exactly they go about snipping mouse fingers and axolotl tails off. I hope there’s at least anesthetic involved.

    In mice, the treatment encouraged bone regrowth in damaged digits and partially restored some regenerative abilities lost when the SP genes were absent.

    So, sounds like small steps towards identifying part of the puzzle. Cool discovery, but plenty still to do before we’re regrowing mouse arms much less human arms.