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First Mammals Observed Regenerating Tissue
ananyo writes "Two species of African spiny mouse have been caught at something no other mammal is known to do — completely regenerating damaged tissue. The work could help improve wound healing in humans. The species — Acomys kempi and Acomys percivali — have skin that is brittle and easily torn, which helps them to escape predators by jettisoning patches of their skin when caught or bitten. Researchers report that whereas normal laboratory mice (Mus musculus) grow scar tissue when their skin is removed, African spiny mice can regrow complete suites of hair follicles, skin, sweat glands, fur and even cartilage (abstract). Tissue regeneration has not been seen in mammals before, though it is common in crustaceans, insects, reptiles and amphibians."
So when Tom smashes Jerry with a frying pan, and Jerry shakes it off and goes back to work, it's not so far fetched after all.
Table-ized A.I.
What about fingers?
In May 1932, L.H. McKim published a report inThe Canadian Medical Association Journal, that described the regeneration of an adult digit-tip following amputation. A house surgeon in the Montreal General Hospital underwent amputation of thedistal phalanxto stop the spread of an infection. In less than one month following surgery, x-ray analysis showed the regrowth of bone while macroscopic observation showed the regrowth of nail and skin.
It is true that the "higher" parts of the brain contain memories and personality, etc. But there are some parts of the brain that are much lower and still essential. Take Parkinson's disease. If we could regrow the neurons that degenerate in Parkinson's patients, they'd have a much better quality of life. Even if the new neurons don't work identically to the old ones, the patient is still better off and has not undergone a significant personality change.
Hell, yes. Even if whatever technique the mice use is only applicable to skin, this is still awesome: skin replacement is a serious problem on humans. Just ask any burn victim. But skin's a pretty complex organ --- it is, basically, an insulated sac containing the universe --- and if that can be successfully regenerated then there's a good chance the technique might work on other soft tissue.
What would be really awesome is if the regenerated skin hooks up to the nervous system. If so, that means it's regenerating nerves too.
What they mean by "first" is "first naturally observed", as the MRL is a human-bred strain of rodent. I don't know enough to tell you exactly what the MRL is, but I'm guessing someone out there is enough of an expert to reference: http://jaxmice.jax.org/strain/000486.html and fill us in. From what I see it's not the same species as the article's subject.
The article is referring to two different wild mouse species, so it is a first in that we haven't seen it in nature before this.
I think we should avoid over-hyping this. This is a mouse that can regenerate skin rather than scar tissue. I see nothing to suggest it grows new bones, muscles, major blood vessels, or nerves, so it's unlikely that this will move us much closer to regenerating lost limbs. Not to dismiss the findings. I'm a cell biologist, this is extremely interesting to me still, and regenerating skin rather than scar tissue is obviously important enough to merit a lot more study.
I'd hazard a guess that it's likely we'll be able to make as many skin cells as you'd need using induced pluripotent stem cell technology before too long. However, that wouldn't be -skin- that would be some flasks of cells. With the skin cell gun, it's possible to treat and heal second degree burns, but wiki tells me it isn't yet been validated for third degree burns, and I'm guessing has little hope of replacing skin that is completely lost due to disease or other injury. So the ability to make new skin in humans will be an important breakthrough, and these mice may tell us how, that's very exciting. But I don't think it's likely to help all types of regenerative medicine.