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Scientists Demonstrate Mammalian Tissue Regeneration
telomerewhythere writes "A quest that began over a decade ago with a chance observation has reached a milestone: the identification of a gene that may regulate regeneration in mammals. The absence of this single gene, called p21, confers a healing potential in mice long thought to have been lost through evolution and reserved for creatures like flatworms, sponges, and some species of salamander. 'Unlike typical mammals, which heal wounds by forming a scar, these mice begin by forming a blastema, a structure associated with rapid cell growth and de-differentiation as seen in amphibians. According to the Wistar researchers, the loss of p21 causes the cells of these mice to behave more like embryonic stem cells than adult mammalian cells, and their findings provide solid evidence to link tissue regeneration to the control of cell division. "Much like a newt that has lost a limb, these mice will replace missing or damaged tissue with healthy tissue that lacks any sign of scarring," said the project's lead scientist.' Here is the academic paper for those with PNAS access."
We can all be Wolverine now? Cool!
Now I can finally start my restaurant (which specializes in mouse-tail delicacies) without PETA breathing down my neck. "Look: it's growing back!" Mouse-tail soup anyone?
You know this discussion will degenerate into how this can be applied to growing a longer penis.
"No matter where you go, there you are." -- Buckaroo Banzai
Remember, you are not a newt.
I got better...
"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." -Groucho Marx
Darwinism is cruel... Nature does things for a reason.
Narture wants to be anthropomorphized ;)
It nature is so cruel and barbaric, then for what reason did it evolve human beings who feel sympathy, empathy, are able to learn, and practice healing arts?
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
-- Pablo Picasso
People Eating Tasty Animals But then as the Nugent says "You have to Kill it, before you Grill it."
there are 10 types of people in this world, those who read binary and those who don't. which are you!
Here is the academic paper for those with PNAS access.
I have access to a PNAS. Sometimes I let my wife have access to it, too.
there are logistical, economic and public relations issues with trying to keep hundreds of chimpanzees in order to punch holes in their ears.
Ahh, high school...
Sewage Treatment Facilities - "Our duty is clear."
You could probably keep 10+ mice, quite comfortably, in the volume of space an adult pig takes up. I could probably keep 100 caged mice in my office, with ample room for them to run around and live relatively normal mouse-lives; whereas a single pig would probably be tearing this place up and demanding half* its body weight in food everyday. It would be ridiculous.
No, the logical solution here is to find out which gene we need to turn off to make mice taste like pork and just go from there.
This post paid for by Monsanto and a grant from the Moreau Foundation.
Macon: It ain't just a city in Georgia
*IANAPF