?{REGENERATION}? Is it possible ???!!

[CXCR4]

Hello to everyone on Biology-online who are reading this. I would like to know if there is anyone studying or working on cell regeneration, or regeneration period. I always had thoughts of wolverine as a child for those of you who know about the comic book hero.

But besides the childhood dreams I believe this work can help the world in a fast process. But there are many reason probably still pending for Government issues which I do understand. Let me know how you feel and what you think, besides this is Biology online. A place for scientist, doctors,teachers, and students.

Thanks once again Biology/online.

[mith]

Lookup finite cell lines.

[jonmoulton]

The axolotl has been used as a model organism for the study of regeneration.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl

Try searching PubMed for axolotl.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entre ... rm=axolotl

Or for full papers, PubMed Central (change the search box in the page linked above from PubMed to PMC).

[Jones]

Don't star fish regenerate?
Or something similar..

[biohazard]

Quite a few lower organisms regenerate (if we are talking about whole new limbs and such). And also some vertebrates are capable of that (like salamanders Jonmoulton mentioned). Even some lizards can grow themselves a new tail, although just once. I'm not sure if this is good enough to count as "proper" regeneration, but at least it's better than what humans can do.

Naturally also humans are capable of regeneration to some degree. Best examples probably are epithelial tissue and blood cells, but interestingly also liver can regenerate (being the only internal organ able to do so): only a small bit of liver can regenerate into a functional organ, although not quite as large as the original was. Bit like the lizard's tail! ;)

Apparently this was already known by the ancient Greeks, who had this story of Prometheus who was chained to a mountain wall and every day an eagle ate his liver, but the liver grew back every night and the eagle came again to eat it the next day. Good source of nutrition for the eagle, but poor Prometheus...

Despite these modest yet crucial forms of regeneration we humans have, Wolverine's regeneration capabilities seem quite impossible for humans to achieve. I think we're miles away from being able to even artificially create anything but a piece of skin or a nerve, and those already take weeks if not months to grow :P

[mith]

We're pretty successful with skin because it requires very little blood vessels, compare that to a liver or spleen which are packed with vessels. The scaffolding itself is one of the greatest hurdles we face.

[CXCR4]

Thanks for the replys so far that everyone has given, I have been working on the study of bone regeneration. I thought to myself about how iron is a strong oxidating element if I am not mistaken. Do you perhaps think increasing iron or enchancing T-cells work be a strong route. I have heard that metal is also a good source of oxidating, just like wolverine's metal just a fairy tail though. lol?

[jonmoulton]

Increasing blood iron can be dangerous. Iron concentration is a factor that limits the ability of bacteria to live in blood. The body sequesters blood iron with high-affinity chelators (hemopexin is an interesting example of blood-iron scavenging: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemopexin). High iron concentration in blood can facilitate growth of bacteria there.

[mith]

how does iron oxidation relate to cell regeneration?

[Jones]

Because hemoglobin is in red blood cells and it releases oxygen for cell use.

[mith]

...that's assuming there's not enough oxygen that's causing the lack of regeneration, I highly doubt that's the case.

[Jones]

You highly doubt it, doesn't mean it's not possible.