Mammal's Super Healing to Open Wounds

     In a study published on Wednesday April 30, 2025 the proceedings of the Royal Society B, Dr. Masumoto-Oda and her team compared the healing rates of humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and mice. They found that humans took more than twice as long to heal a wound than any of the other mammals tested. The slow healing trait might have been a result of an evolutionary trade-off that humans. The study recruited 24 patients who were having skin tumors removed at the University of the Ryukyus Hospital, 5 chimpanzees were observed at the Kumamoto Sanctuary of the Kyoto University Wildlife Research Center. The Skye's monkeys were observed as primates by having them anesthetized and then researchers would surgically wound them and then monitor their healing. But do not be alarmed. Dr. Matsumoto-Oda said that "as a field researcher, I personally believe that invasive studies should be minimized as much as possible" and later discussed that the surgical wounds were no bigger than the average bite size wounds that would occur in the habitats between the species. The results consisted of humans healing wounds more slowly than other animals, and said that they regrew skin at about a quarter of a millimeter per day, on average. There was more consistency between the healing rates of the animal subjects including the chimpanzees, and that they showed no significant difference in the speed to regrowing skin per day among different primates. They grew it at about 0.62 millimeters per day. Elaine Fuchs who was a stem cell biologist at the Rockefeller University who studied the skin growth and repair was not involved in the research itself, however, said that the results were what she would have expected. This was being the skin healing depends on hair, each hair grows from a hair follicle, which is a house for stem cells. Regularly stem cells would just produce more hair, however since skin is regrowing instead she said that when the epidermis is wounded it is really the hair follicle stem cell that performs the repairing. Since animals are normally furry they are covered in follicles, which can help heal wounds more quickly than in humans. Since humans have very puny hair follicles, they have lost their efficiency to repair wounds as quickly.  This article was very interesting to learn about because I had never fully known that animals were able to heal quicker than humans due their higher amount of hair follicles for their fur. It is fascinating to know that over time loosing the access hair on the human body has prevented us from healing quicker. 

Links:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/science/wounds-healing-speed-humans.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470443/

What If We Could Design Our Pets?

Lately, scientists have been looking at genetic engineering as a way to create “better” pets, and it’s actually pretty interesting. Instead of just relying on traditional breeding, researchers are using gene editing to change animals’ genes and give them specific traits, like better health, smarts, or even looks. Imagine a “designer dog”—one that’s been genetically changed to be healthier, smarter, or even hypoallergenic. This could be possible thanks to new technology like CRISPR.

One of the most exciting parts of this research is making dogs healthier. Many dog breeds are known to have certain health problems, like bad hips or heart issues. By changing the genes that cause these problems, scientists could help create dogs that live longer and don’t get sick as much. Another cool idea is creating hypoallergenic dogs. Some scientists are working on changing the genes that cause allergic reactions in people, so more people with allergies could have dogs without sneezing or itching.

But it’s not just about health. Researchers are also trying to make dogs smarter and easier to train. If we could change the genes that control how well a dog learns or follows commands, dogs might become better service animals, therapy dogs, or just better pets in general. There’s also the possibility of changing a dog’s physical traits, like coat color or texture, to create new looks that don’t exist naturally.

Of course, there are some concerns. We don’t know exactly what could happen in the long term if we start changing animals’ genes. Could it cause health problems or make dogs act differently than we expect? There are also ethical questions about whether it’s okay to change animals just to suit our preferences. After all, pets are living beings, not just products we can customize.

There’s also the issue of genetic diversity. If more people start creating “designer” pets, we might lose the natural variety in certain breeds. This could make them more vulnerable to diseases. And at what point are we changing animals too much? It’s a tough question.