|
Archives of The Cold Blooded NewsThe Newsletter of the Colorado Herpetological SocietyVolume 29, Number 7; July, 2002 |
||
|
The King and I The Legend of Kauila Green Sea Turtle The Endangered Herper Secrets to Regeneration Next Issue August 2002 PREVIOUS ISSUES June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 January 2002 Earlier Issues About the Cold Blooded News CHS Home Page |
Can Reptiles and Amphibians Teach us the Secrets to Regeneration?Reprinted from Ark'Type, the newsletter of the Westcoast Society for the Protection and Conservation of Reptiles, Apr/May 2002.More and more scientists are learning about how regeneration works in reptiles and amphibians. Some lizards regrow lost tails -- amphibians can replicate a new limb identical to the original. It is common belief that this ability is not within human reach, but scientists are discovering that this may not be true. Even in the 1970's there was evidence that young children under the age of 11 could entirely regrow a lost finger tip! Now it seems that even multiple sclerosis sufferers may find hope in regeneration as evidence mounts that it is possible for body cells to attempt to create a new myelin sheath around nerves (which is what is destroyed in MS). Our body has a lot of regeneration ability; if it did not, we would never heal. But compared to newts and salamanders which regrow entire lost limbs, our ability seems miniscule. The difference is that these animals have cells which have the ability to revert from specialized cells (skin, blood etc.) back into the undifferentiated cells which make up an embryo and eventually become specialized cells. Once reverted, they can then begin respecializing and constructing the new body part from the DNA blueprint of the body. Human cells have lost that ability, but scientists through their studies of reptiles and amphibians have begun to see the possibility of making this a reality in human medicine. One wonders if in the future we really will see Star Trek like gadgets bathing wounds in a beam of light and see them instantly regenerate news tissue and heal. Scientists are proceeding carefully however because this is not something to rush into without a full understanding. It would be terrible to attempt to grow a new arm on someone and end up with a leg instead! Copyright © 1998 - 2006, Colorado Herpetological Society. All rights reserved. | ||
Site designed and hosted by:
WebSpinners.com
(info@webspinners.com)