Researchers Identify Gene Involved in Regeneration

v1x writes "Researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine have discovered that when a gene called smedwi-2 is silenced in the adult stem cells of planarians, the quarter-inch long worm is unable to carry out a biological process that has mystified scientists for centuries, regeneration."

Logic 101

[n0dalus]

... when a gene called smedwi-2 is silenced in the adult stem cells of planarians ...

That doesn't mean the gene has anything to do with it's regeneration.
If you silenced a gene in me that allowed me to produce red blood cells would you then say you had found the gene responsible for me being able to respirate (live)?

Another de-aging + eternal youth craze?

[betasam]

smedwi-2 (not quite a catchy name is it?) is in the line of the next aging inhibition, youth sustenance attempts that humanity is so fond of. I wonder what happend to the Telomerase craze of the past. So when genetic modification drugs (probably virii) are going to make a huge entry into the pharma market, we'll be seeing the likes of this one the list. On the positive side, perhaps degenerative diseases like Parkinsons' and like geriatric disorders do have stronger solutions coming up.

illusions of you

[Xiph]

This article comes close to saying that we'll have this in humans soon, probably to keep you interested. Let me set this straight, you won't be able to get a cool regeneration ability.

a. we don't know how this would work with the rest of the human genome
b. we have rules against testing a
c. the technology isn't complete for changing a humans dna
d. we have rules blocking a lot of research into c
e. It would be cool, so it's not going to be publicly available.

On the other hand, this is interesting research, and could help a lot in several fields of medicine, though i believe it would be mainly transplant medicine, and anything usable is still 10-20 years into the future. So get your hopes up for your kids, but realize this, you will die the same way as your grandparents.

Reality?

[TheLink]

Thing is, even if you can regenerate entire limbs I wonder whether they'll match the rest of the body. My guess is it won't for quite some time (after they figure out basic regeneration)

Because if the regeneration ends up like lizards and amphibians (or even crustaceans), then it won't. They typically end up with a slightly smaller appendage, or sometimes even _two_. e.g. if a lizard's tail gets notched instead of totally chopped off, sometimes it ends up with two tails.

Having a nonmatching limb or extra limbs might be just as undesirable as having a missing limb.

A "freaky" limb could be perceived as "bad genes", whereas having a missing limb might not be (then again it could be a sign of genes for stupidity/carelessness though ;) ).

Maybe the really rich would be able to go about their lives while getting a regen-lab to keep growing replacement limbs/organs for them under controlled conditions till they get one that matches well enough. But the poor will end up with mismatched stuff or resorting to prosthetics...

Hmm, add some rogue neurons growing in a replacement limb and you might end up with a nice B grade movie...

Re:I for one...

[cyberbob2010]

"...but surely something amazing is going to result from these efforts by the Utah scientists." ....yea...ASSUMING that the crazy right wing Utah gov. doesnt step in and stop them...

Re:I for one...

[kripkenstein]

Hopes are high, I agree. But we have next to no idea why this gene is needed for regeneration. For all we know, it could be a minor but crucial role. For example, perhaps this gene merely acts as a signal, telling cells "regenerate now!", whereas the highly complex machinery that actually carries out regeneration is contained in some other genes. Note that if this were true, the results of the experiments would be the same. Further research is needed.

Finding one gene alone isn't the key

[Frangible]

Regeneration is a very complex process and its behavior is not governed by a single gene or protein expression, as it involves a variety of very complex mechanics that are not fully understood. While I'm sure this gene is responsible for part of the regenerative process in worms, simply eliminating one gene and breaking something doesn't mean this is going to translate into a human response. Regeneration research has been going on for many years, and it has produced limited results in rats as some of the mechanics responsible have been found. Further, stem cells don't play the only role in regeneration in more complex animals similar to mammals like the newt; the first step of regeneration is muscle cells dedifferentiating and then differentiating into a new replacement cell type. There are multiple proteins (and multiple genes) involved with this step alone, and it's one of many.

Re:Reality?

[rubycodez]

I'd take a functional but somewhat non-matching limb over no limb or prosthetic limb any day of the week. And you can always lop the extra ones off.

Re:fetus

[speculatrix]

in fetal development you can cut off pieces of the fetus and it'll heal just fine

I believe this has been used on physically abnormal but genetically fine embryos and has effectively prevented babies being born with deformities - for example, when the hand was developing misformed, it was removed and a new one grew.

But as the original poster said, it has to be done very early on. It's still experimental, and I would guess that only a small percent of the world's population have access to the hi-res ultrasound scanners required to even see these potential deformities, let alone have access to the specialist surgical teams.