Regeneration.

[654654654]

In biology class we studied about the Animalia class "Reptilia" and learned about the reptilian ability to regenerate lost tissue. Now what I am wondering is that if a person is injected with some type of this regeneration, would they be able to regenerate lost limbs?

Seniors age 65 and up have weaker bones than younger people and their tissue is old in comparison also. If regeneration could replace that lost marrow or tissue, do you think it would be possible to have a longer life span if you continue decent dieting habits?

I know this type of discussion is scientific but I would like your opinions about his to see if it is possible or not to come up with a solution to regeneration traits such as those of a reptile, or if the reptile is so different between the human that it would be impossible for this to occur.

[JKPolk]

There have been huge efforts to try and mimic this behavior in humans. Stem cell research is a large part of that.

[devonin]

Basically, if you want any kind of actually correct information, you'll need to talk to someone who actually works in the cutting edge of biological research, which none of us do.

It seems like technology worth investigating, and I can think of plenty of useful applications for it, but as not a biologist I have absolutely no clue whatsoever how one goes about doing such a thing.

[Cavernio]

I *think* the reason why such regeneration is hard is that there's no template in our genes that would allow these cells to grow into a human arm properly. Maybe you could grow a reptilian arm or something :-p

Speaking about our nerves specifically, one of the reasons why brain damage is so detrimental is because once neurons die, they have difficulty growing back to the same place. It's not that neurons can't grow, but that they won't necessarily grow the same axons and dendrites as they used to have, ie they won't make the same connections as they used to have. If we could manage to grow a human arm onto a human body, in order for it to be useful, you'd have to innervate it properly too, and as of a few years ago when I was in school, there was no way of reliably getting neurons to connect where you wanted them to be on an adult body.

[richhhhhard]

Originally Posted by 654654654

Now what I am wondering is that if a person is injected with some type of this regeneration, would they be able to regenerate lost limbs?

The answer is yes, but it is not nearly as simple as injecting someone with something. Reptiles with the ability to regenerate lost limbs are able to do so because their cells are able to dedifferentiate into a stem-cell like state and from there develop into the cells that form the new limb. Humans do not have this ability because our limbs are much more complex. Once our cells differentiate into the type of cell they will be (i.e. a blood cell) they do not retain the ability to dedifferentiate, though they do retain the information for all other cell types within the DNA.

As JKPolk said, stem-cell research is a large part of this, seeing as stem-cells are the pre-developed cells that have the ability to become any cell type. Unfortunately (in my opinion) much of this research was halted during Bush's presidency. Fortunately, I believe it has been continued under Obama's. Though actually acquiring the ability to naturally regenerate lost limbs may require editing our DNA sequence, it is not farfetched to believe that they could be medically re-grown with the use of stem-cells. This isn't just true for limbs either, it could also be used to re-grow heart tissue for people that have heart failures, or lung tissue for people with lung problems. It may even be able to be used to combat brain trauma. PLUS there would be no chance of the body rejecting the new tissue, as in transplants, because it would be developing into the patients personal tissue. I think that as far as medical advances go, this has the potential to change everything. It is unfortunate that it is so tied to the debate on abortion.

Sorry to get away from the original topic of regeneration a bit, but I see them as being very closely related since medical stem-cell use would be basically an induced form of regeneration.


Note: If you are interested in the transfer of traits from one species to another you should search the web for genetic engineering. If we were to gain the ability of regeneration, that would be how. There are some CRAZY experiments out there, like splicing jellyfish DNA into cat DNA to make glow in the dark cats. Maybe in the future we will be able to choose to have glow in the dark children? I can only hope...

[GuidoHunter]

Humans don't regenerate because it was biologically superior to scar rather than regenerate. This was simply an evolutionary advancement.

You're right in discerning that stem cells can only transform into one kind of cell, and not, say, an entire arm, but are incorrect in suggesting that the issue is tied to abortion and less to the right to life, as nobody is opposed to the study of adult stem cells (such as umbilical stem cells) which have no chance of being rejected and are medically sound.

--Guido

http://andy.mikee385.com

[richhhhhard]

Originally Posted by GuidoHunter

Humans don't regenerate because it was biologically superior to scar rather than regenerate. This was simply an evolutionary advancement.

You're right in discerning that stem cells can only transform into one kind of cell, and not, say, an entire arm, but are incorrect in suggesting that the issue is tied to abortion and less to the right to life, as nobody is opposed to the study of adult stem cells (such as umbilical stem cells) which have no chance of being rejected and are medically sound.

--Guido

http://andy.mikee385.com

Yeah, except adult stem cells are harder to harvest than embryonic stem cells. You can't say that the issue is not tied to abortion, most of the stem cells used in research come from aborted fetuses. Why do you think Bush shut down such stem-cell research? You are correct though, we are just arguing opinion at this point.