First Mammals Observed Regenerating Tissue 89
ananyo writes "Two species of African spiny mouse have been caught at something no other mammal is known to do — completely regenerating damaged tissue. The work could help improve wound healing in humans. The species — Acomys kempi and Acomys percivali — have skin that is brittle and easily torn, which helps them to escape predators by jettisoning patches of their skin when caught or bitten. Researchers report that whereas normal laboratory mice (Mus musculus) grow scar tissue when their skin is removed, African spiny mice can regrow complete suites of hair follicles, skin, sweat glands, fur and even cartilage (abstract). Tissue regeneration has not been seen in mammals before, though it is common in crustaceans, insects, reptiles and amphibians."
Re:NEWS FLASH !! FLESH HEALS !! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:NEWS FLASH !! FLESH HEALS !! (Score:5, Insightful)
Especially for specialised tissue such as brain (...) once you've lost it, it's gone for good. If we can figure out how to make these parts regenerate, then it will revolutionize the treatment of all kinds of illness.
While in general I agree with your statement, I think the brain is where things will get muddy. A lung or heart or even a leg is "relatively" simple. Provided you grown the bones on the right place and the right kind of muscle in the right kind of configuration, it works fine. It may not be a lung working at 100% capacity, or a leg equal to the other one, but it works.
A brain on the other hand, it's not just a static collection of cells. We know that our brain reorganizes (e.g. during the learning process and as a consequence of it) and so, even regrowing the brain tissue would still leave you with a scar. Not necessarily a physical one, you could be capable of controlling all your bodily functions (maintaining a heartbeat, using your legs) without a problem, but a self scar. If the disease touches the parts that control who you are (i.e. personality related areas, and there's plenty of them), even getting them back would result in a different you. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing... but it still not really a cure for the "illness", it's a treatment (in the sense that you don't get your old self back, but you get to a different steady state.
Re:NEWS FLASH !! FLESH HEALS !! (Score:5, Interesting)
Memories and pathways (Score:1)
I suppose that depends on the extent of the damage. For example, if part of your brain is scarred and it heals to the point where it is essentially "reset" as opposed to permanently scarred and damaged, then I'd imagine there would be potential to rebuild pathways and restore function.
Not so good for memory centers (although I believe these are sometimes redundant), but it might be good if you sustain a brain-injury that damages motor skills, the speech-centre etc as those are all those that could be relear
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Also: Penis enlargement.
A whole industry is waiting on this.
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Re:NEWS FLASH !! FLESH HEALS !! (Score:5, Informative)
That's correct. There are creatures on this planet that can regenerate whole limbs. It's nothing new.
However, what part of 'First mammals' in the OP and article flew past you? We have the first -mammals- now that actually perfectly regenerate skin, flesh and cartilage.
This has big implications for the research into what makes this stuff tick, and how it could be reproduced in -other mammals-.
Like, say...humans. These strange, endlessly multiplying mammals
Re:NEWS FLASH !! FLESH HEALS !! (Score:4, Interesting)
I'd hazard a guess that it's likely we'll be able to make as many skin cells as you'd need using induced pluripotent stem cell technology before too long. However, that wouldn't be -skin- that would be some flasks of cells. With the skin cell gun [wikipedia.org], it's possible to treat and heal second degree burns, but wiki tells me it isn't yet been validated for third degree burns, and I'm guessing has little hope of replacing skin that is completely lost due to disease or other injury. So the ability to make new skin in humans will be an important breakthrough, and these mice may tell us how, that's very exciting. But I don't think it's likely to help all types of regenerative medicine.
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I do think it's cool that we're still discovering things like this though.
An animal which has been known about for ages, that does such a remarkable thing.
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Doesn't skin normally contain muscle, blood vessels and nerves?
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It's also not exactly without precedent. Years ago a lab mouse was found with the same phenotype. The lab mouse is much more useful for studies as we know much more about it's genome than this interesting wild species.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/08/11/1111056108.full.pdf [pnas.org]
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Ignorance won't get you nowhere in life.
Unless it is in politics or entertainment.....
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And unfortunately it seems that in politics at least ignorance is the key to success.
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No, it's ONLY in politics or entertainment that ignorance will get you somewhere (won't get you nowhere) in life. Are you and the GP both from Arkansas or somewhere?
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Please cut of a finger and tell us when your "flesh heals" and it grows back fully working.
I'll go tell the ex-wife (Score:4, Funny)
I can regenerate my balls now
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Vasectomies (Score:1)
I wonder how selective this surgery would be. Not so good if one's vasectomy (or other intentional surgeries which might be interpreted as "damage") suddenly repairs itself...
As a Unix admin (Score:5, Funny)
I've spent the last 20 years perfecting my Unix skills. The main thing I've always felt was holding me back form perfect success is a lack of a neck beard and no where near enough sweat glands. This may finally get me to perfect my professional arts.
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I've spent the last 20 years perfecting my Unix skills. The main thing I've always felt was holding me back form perfect success is a lack of a neck beard and no where near enough sweat glands. This may finally get me to perfect my professional arts.
No disrespect, but...
Bad news: wrong choice as repository. If you haven't have them ever, you have nothing to regenerate - you'll need to grow them anew, which is in totally different another repo ( :-P hint - your parents, if still in business, may know something about it).
Good news - the UNIX world evolved: with a correct choice of repositories, good chances that you can "apt-get install neck-beard" or "yum install neck-beard" (that is: no longer need to manually download the patches to apply them).
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Now we ALL have neck beards. Mwahahaha!
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Could this be the one slashdot post (Score:5, Funny)
Where trolls are actually on-topic?
Itchy & Scratchy (Score:5, Interesting)
So when Tom smashes Jerry with a frying pan, and Jerry shakes it off and goes back to work, it's not so far fetched after all.
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No doubt.
I'm waiting for the ground breaking research which supports the Road Runner's theories on gravity.
Re:Itchy & Scratchy (Score:5, Funny)
I'm more interested in that ACME selective quantum-tunnelling paint that creates a railway tunnel on any flat surface.
Sounds like a logical first step towards a Portal Gun.
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I'm more interested in that ACME selective quantum-tunnelling paint that creates a railway tunnel on any flat surface.
Sounds like a logical first step towards a Portal Gun.
It has nothing to do with quantum-tunnelling. The paint contains an element that creates a reality distortion field. The RDF can also be used to create doorways that leads to a hidden room only when the right person opens them and it can also wrap time so that it appears as if you invented the wheel first even if everyone else have already used it. If used correctly a reality distortion field can also make bugs look like well designed features and lack of functions as user friendly.
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It has nothing to do with quantum-tunnelling. The paint contains an element that creates a reality distortion field. The RDF can also be used to create doorways that leads to a hidden room only when the right person opens them and it can also wrap time so that it appears as if you invented the wheel first even if everyone else have already used it. If used correctly a reality distortion field can also make bugs look like well designed features and lack of functions as user friendly.
So that means Apple will be suing Amce? Don't they have a patent on the reality distortion field?
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Don't they have a patent on the reality distortion field?
Man, if there's ONE thing that Steve Jobs really did invent, it's a reality distortion field.
This has been documented in humans (Score:2)
I believe we are considered mammals...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regeneration_%28biology%29#Humans
Re:This has been documented in humans (Score:5, Informative)
Yeah, but if you read the article you'd know humans suck at regeneration. It's not impressive that we can regenerate (very, very slowly) the extreme tip of a finger or toe (as long as all the knuckles are left intact), or the kidney *MIGHT* regenerate somewhat, but doesn't happen often enough to be in the literature or commonly suspected. And we can regrow a rib or two over the course of *YEARS* as long as the sac surrounding the rib remains intact.
About the only thing we humans are good at regrowing is liver, and that's only with healthy liver, and doesn't work rupture or puncture that isn't cauterized/sutured. We'll completely regrow a new liver if as much of 3/4ths are removed. Which is actually pretty impressive. But not very cool as a superpower....
The point of the discovery is that there's interesting mechanisms at work allowing these mice to heal in an absolutely complete way, never before documented in mammals. And with further study we might be able to apply their biochemistry to the human healing process. There's a lot of potential, and it looks like an interesting, if not promising, avenue for research.
Quit bitching, cuz I'll bet 10:1 if you lose the tip of your finger, you'll likely not regrow it, and if you do, there will be a lot of scar tissue. If you lose a square inch of skin all at once, there WILL be extensive scarring.
These mice don't scar. How is that not awesome.
Re:This has been documented in humans (Score:5, Interesting)
Hell, yes. Even if whatever technique the mice use is only applicable to skin, this is still awesome: skin replacement is a serious problem on humans. Just ask any burn victim. But skin's a pretty complex organ --- it is, basically, an insulated sac containing the universe --- and if that can be successfully regenerated then there's a good chance the technique might work on other soft tissue.
What would be really awesome is if the regenerated skin hooks up to the nervous system. If so, that means it's regenerating nerves too.
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But not very cool as a superpower....
I can think of a few people who seemed to gain superhuman powers when they were plastered; maybe you're onto something here...
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Have you heard about "pig powder"? I'm still trying to figure out if it's for real, and how good it actually is. Also, from what I've been reading, it looks like scarring is a short-term patch that actually needs to be suppressed (or removed) as a prerequisite for regeneration.
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Yes!! (Score:2)
Just in time for the next SpiderMan movie.
And by "first" you mean, "not first" (Score:5, Informative)
MRL mice have been observed doing this for over a DECADE now. Hell, we've narrowed down the gene responsible, even.
Here's an article from /. in 2002 on the subject: http://science.slashdot.org/story/02/09/26/1211256/human-limb-regeneration-a-possibility?sdsrc=next /. in 2010 on the subject: http://science.slashdot.org/story/10/03/17/1425241/scientists-demonstrate-mammalian-tissue-regeneration
Here's an article from
Here's a video on the subject: http://vimeo.com/19096437
And here's my faith in /.'s editorial staff:
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What they mean by "first" is "first naturally observed", as the MRL is a human-bred strain of rodent. I don't know enough to tell you exactly what the MRL is, but I'm guessing someone out there is enough of an expert to reference: http://jaxmice.jax.org/strain/000486.html and fill us in. From what I see it's not the same species as the article's subject.
The article is referring to two different wild mouse species, so it is a first in that we haven't seen it in nature before this.
Re:And by "first" you mean, "not first" (Score:5, Informative)
That's an interesting story (covered quite well on the BBC unusually http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4888080.stm [bbc.co.uk]) but my faith in /.'s editorial staff is intact. The article you link to are about mice with various genes missing - it's an engineered lab mouse mdoel. The mice in the story here regenerate naturally. MRL mice are a disease model - and carry a lupus like disease - ie autoimmune disease-bad news (I'm not sure whether that's because of the missing p21 gene but it's quite possible. Disentangling that from the regenerative abilities is going to be tough - and they haven't managed it yet by the looks of things).
The fact these mice do this naturally, with no other ill-effects, is much more important in terms of making an impact on human health.
Some years ago on SA (Score:2)
hmm (Score:5, Interesting)
What about fingers [wikipedia.org]?
In May 1932, L.H. McKim published a report inThe Canadian Medical Association Journal, that described the regeneration of an adult digit-tip following amputation. A house surgeon in the Montreal General Hospital underwent amputation of thedistal phalanxto stop the spread of an infection. In less than one month following surgery, x-ray analysis showed the regrowth of bone while macroscopic observation showed the regrowth of nail and skin.
Re:hmm (Score:5, Informative)
Per your example, I don't believe the brain "heals" as such; I'm no human biologist, but basic science states that after a certain age your brain is pretty much as is, and any damage is permanent. Your brain may re-train itself to process speech in a different way after a stroke, but I wouldn't call it healing. The area which was damaged is still damaged. It's certainly not regenerated, as that would require complete repair of any damage, which would make degenerative diseases like Alzheimers and Parkinsons a thing of the past.
Someone else may know more, but this is how I understand it.
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I'm recovering from a head injury right now. The doctors told me that my brain would slowly heal itself over 2-3 years. I didn't ask questions that weren't about me, so I can't say if it's the type of injury I sustained or something else specific to my case. I did verify that my brain would actually be healing and they said that it would, and I wouldn't just be learning to live with it.
Hearing restoration (Score:1)
TFA says that the ability extends even into the mice's ear holes, so does that mean they can regenerate damaged hearing? As I understand it, noise-based hearing damage is due to damage to the tiny follicles of hair in the inner ear. These mice regenerate hair as well as skin.. time for some Mötley Crüe based experimentation?
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No thank you. I'm still getting flashbacks from all the Pink Floyd-based experimentation I did back in the '70s.
hmmmph (Score:3)
Now I'll be thinking about whether being able to regurgitate my own stomach really is better than being able to remove my own skin with impunity!
One of my favorite regeneration stories is about the crown of thorns starfish [wikipedia.org]. To battle population booms (before this species was well understood) the sent divers out with machetes to kick ass. After a run they did a census, the creatures had become smaller but their population more than doubled!
Just like the dancing brooms in Fantasia, only without an occult Mickey Mouse.
BWAHAHA. (Score:2)
At last! Reptilians, your days are numbered!
What I find more impressive is... (Score:1)
It seems there is actually a lifeform that evolved to have loose body matter for the sake of survival, that could easily be regenerated.
I always wondered if there was such a creature that evolved to deal directly with the fact that another animal wanted to eat it by providing it something to eat.
Are any other creatures out there that show this ability?
And I don't mean generic lizards repairing lost limbs, these creatures skins are very specifically weak for survival reasons. (at least, it seems that way, it
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I always wondered if there was such a creature that evolved to deal directly with the fact that another animal wanted to eat it by providing it something to eat.
Are any other creatures out there that show this ability?
It's called autotomy. Mostly it's lizards, salamanders, skinks and that sort of thing that do it. Geckos, for example, can pop off their tails to distract predators. The tail writhes around and the predator eats it instead of the whole gecko.
ha (Score:1)
grow complete suites of hair follicles
Eyes fuzzy from sleep, I could've sworn that read "complete suites of hairy testicles..."
Wub fur (Score:2)
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Knock it off, dimwit. I just checked your user page, a dozen comments all saying "test". GTFO, would you? Comments are for commenting. If you want to test, do it in your journal so we don't have to see your juvenile trolls.
Mods, I'm offtopic so if the "no bonus" checkboxes didn't work, please mod me down.
I can *not* believe no-one else got here first (Score:2)
I'm not sure whether or not this one is a "mammal" as we know it, though?
I get to be Splinter! (Score:2)
Being a lizard man didn't appeal to me very much. But getting to be Splinter will totally ROCK!
I wonder how fast it works... (Score:1)
X-M...ouse! (Score:2)
I want to get one as a pet and name it Wolverine!
Finally (Score:1)