Frogs can regenerate isolated organs after being treated with a mixture of drugs, new research discovers, Some rare animals, such as salamanders, starfish, crabs, lizards, and newts, have a natural ability to regenerate their limbs.
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| Frogs can regenerate isolated organs after being treated with a mixture of drugs, new research discovers |
Scientists have long tried to understand and replicate the limbs of millions of patients, including diabetics and traumatizes, but such extraordinary powers protect most animals, including humans.
Now, U.S. researchers said Wednesday they have been able to reproduce the detached leg in a species of Xenopus levis.
The technique, used by a team of scientists at Harvard's Weiss Institute and Tufts University, involved applying a mixture of five drugs to the spike-like stamp of a test frog sealed in a small silicon dome. The cocktail was applied for only 24 hours, but after 18 months, the organs were almost fully functional. Underwater frogs were able to swim and respond to touch. They also enlarged some toes but did not tie a net between them.
The study was published in Science Advances on Wednesday.
The results were "impressive" and "thrilling," said James Monagan, an associate professor of biology at Northeastern University. He was not involved in the study.
"There are groups salamanders somewhere that reproduce their limbs almost completely, and mammals that make spots after mutilation. Adult genoas reproduce spikes after mutilation, but the spikes stay on the limbs. There is no such pattern," Monaghan explained.
"This study is important because it shows that patterning can be induced in organs that normally only reproduce spikes, although not completely," Monaghan said in an email.
Cell growth and organization activation
The team suggested that only short-term exposure to the drug, which begins one month after rebirth, has the potential for frogs (and possibly other animals) to act dormant. I mentioned the incident.
"Since humans do not have a regenerative spike-like Xenopus levis, this technique is unlikely to translate into humans immediately, but this study shows that short-term application of the drug can improve the process of reincarnation. This is exciting because it shows. Cocktails."
Mike Levin, a professor of biology at Vannevar Bush and Tufts University, said:
"I think the real way to get regenerative medicine is to use the collective intelligence of the body's cells. They already know how to make all these organs. They do it during fetal development. That information is still there," Levine said.
"My goal is to detect a very common type of stimulus, a trigger that kicks the cell and persuades them to create what they want."
The research team used this technique on more than 100 frogs, but the results were "not perfect in all cases." According to Levin, frogs were not the same as laboratory rats, so they could be a factor. Or, the surgery performed to attach the dome was inconsistent. In the next phase of research, we will test this technique in mammals, such as rats.
Levin and his colleagues used frog stem cells to create a self-replicating living robot called a xenobiotic. The thread divided between the two research streams is for understanding the signals necessary for cells to be organized into complex tissues that make up the structure of organs and whole organisms.
Ashley Seefeld, an associate professor of biology at the University of Kentucky who studies animal regeneration but is not involved in the research, says that for people who have lost limbs due to illnesses such as trauma and diabetes. He said there was more hope for progress with prostheses than for organ regeneration. ..
"One day, will we be able to resurrect human fingers and limbs? Probably, but it is impossible to predict how long we will have to wait," said Sheffield.
"One step in that direction is when regenerative biology fully embraces new regenerative models, especially of certain mammal species. This and comparative research show that regeneration fails in certain situations and succeeds in other situations. It helps to understand how and why."
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