====== Limb Regeneration ====== Many animals, notably salamanders, axolotls, octopuses and starfish (etc) are able to regrow limbs (and other body parts) which have been lost through accidents or disease. Although mammals can regrow various tissues - notably skin, liver and tail tips - there is no ability to regrow limbs etc. Some research groups suggest that the capacity for mammals to regenerate is genetically 'turned off'. If regeneration could somehow be 'turned on', it would be of huge benefit to amputees, and those with damage to other organs etc.. At present the biological mechanisms which control for regrowth are unknown. >Regeneration remains one of nature’s most exciting mysteries.Several organisms can regenerate diverse parts of their bodies with different efficiencies. __Although important progress in the understanding of this phenomenon has been made in the last decades, the precise spatio-temporal cellular dynamics of the regenerative response remains an unresolved puzzle."__\\ \\ Source : [[https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Osvaldo_Contreras2/publication/339048225_Single-cell_revolution_unveils_the_mysteries_of_the_regenerative_mammalian_digit_tip/links/5ea003e9299bf13079b2071b/Single-cell-revolution-unveils-the-mysteries-of-the-regenerative-mammalian-digit-tip.pdf|Developmental Biology,]] Volume 461, Issue 2, May 2020 Several versions of 'Regenerative Medicine' are currently under development - with various drugs being tested for their potential to induce regrowth. None is as yet in routine use. See: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regeneration_in_humans|Wikipedia]] It has recently been suggested that salamanders - which have a record-breaking [[content:life_sciences:genetics:genome_size|genome size]], and very slow development - may have a predominance of stem-cells in their bodies, making it easier to generate new, specific cells, as required. See : [[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/junk-dna-deforms-salamander-bodies/|Junk DNA Deforms Salamander Bodies]] {{:oa_padlock_grn.png?16&nolink|Open Access}}//Scientific American,// Feb 2022. ---- Also see : [[content:life_sciences:zoology:neural_regeneration]]