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Electric switch could turn on limb regeneration

Tadpoles use a proton pump to direct tissue regrowth.

Tadpoles can achieve something that humans may only dream of: pull off a tadpole's thick tail or a tiny developing leg, and it'll grow right back — spinal cord, muscles, blood vessels and all. Now researchers have discovered the key regulator of the electrical signal that convinces Xenopus pollywogs to regenerate amputated tails. The results, reported this week in Development, give some researchers hope for new approaches to stimulating tissue regeneration in humans.

Read the story here.

Posted by Nicola Jones on February 28, 2007 06:12 PM |

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