7. Regeneration of Limbs (Sienna Fedoruk)
Regeneration is an animals ability to replace damaged or lost body parts without having scar tissue damage in which stem cells play a pivotal role. In a study done by Nature Communications in January 22 researcher, Igor Schneider, examined regeneration in an animal capable of fin regrowth. He compared this fish to axolotl and zebra-fish to find all three animals initiate the process of regeneration very similarly. He saw that immune cells respond to the injury first and reduce inflammation, then the cells "switch" to low-oxygen mode to fuel regrowth while the RBC regulate healing. Finally genes involving limb formation and DNA repair are triggered and activated which allows for no scare tissue damage. The importance of this study showed how ancient this process is because of how widely these mechanisms are used in prehistoric animals yet lost in humans.
Other link: https://www.deepseaworld.com/
April 30
This was really interesting, especially how different animals use similar processes to regenerate limbs. It’s fascinating to think about how this could eventually apply to humans/modern medicine in the future as an alternative to amputation possibly. It also reminded me of the planarian worm lab we did in B&E and also connects to organisms like starfish too, since they rely on similar regenerative abilities to regrow lost arms.
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