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Science finds new ways to regrow fingers
Boston Globe ^
| February 19, 2007
| Malcolm Ritter
Posted on 10/21/2007 9:22:21 PM PDT by neverdem
AP Science Writer
NEW YORK --Researchers are trying to find ways to regrow fingers -- and someday, even limbs -- with tricks that sound like magic spells from a Harry Potter novel.
There's the guy who sliced off a fingertip but grew it back, after he treated the wound with an extract of pig bladder. And the scientists who grow extra arms on salamanders. And the laboratory mice with the eerie ability to heal themselves.
This summer, scientists are planning to see whether the powdered pig extract can help injured soldiers regrow parts of their fingers. And a large federally funded project is trying to unlock the secrets of how some animals regrow body parts so well, with hopes of applying the the lessons to humans.
The implications for regrowing fingers go beyond the cosmetic. People who are missing all or most of their fingers, as from an explosion or a fire, often can't pick things up, brush their teeth or button a button. If they could grow even a small stub, it could make a huge difference in their lives.
And the lessons learned from studying regrowth of fingers and limbs could aid the larger field of regenerative medicine, perhaps someday helping people replace damaged parts of their hearts and spinal cords, and heal wounds and burns with new skin instead of scar.
But that's in the future. For now, consider the situation of Lee Spievack, a hobby-store salesman in Cincinnati, as he regarded his severed right middle finger one evening in August 2005.
He had been helping a customer with an engine on a model airplane behind the shop. He knew the motor was risky because it required somebody to turn the prop backwards to make it run the right way.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: health; medicine; pigbladderextract; regeneration; regenerativemedicine
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1
posted on
10/21/2007 9:22:23 PM PDT
by
neverdem
To: neverdem
Just think of the possibilities. One day we might even grow spines in Republican Senators and Congressmen!
2
posted on
10/21/2007 9:25:00 PM PDT
by
Grizzled Bear
("Does not play well with others.")
To: neverdem
Hopefully Hillary Clinton won’t get hold of this.
To: neverdem
This could be good news for transsexuals with regrets.
4
posted on
10/21/2007 9:28:28 PM PDT
by
Moonman62
(The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
To: neverdem
5
posted on
10/21/2007 9:29:36 PM PDT
by
Kevmo
(We should withdraw from Iraq — via Tehran. And Duncan Hunter is just the man to get that job done.))
To: neverdem
extract of pig bladder Muzzies are really going to hate this.
6
posted on
10/21/2007 9:31:46 PM PDT
by
Slicksadick
(Go out on a limb........Its where the fruit is.)
To: Grizzled Bear
“Just think of the possibilities. One day we might even grow spines in Republican Senators and Congressmen!”
LOL
It is in a newspaper, so it must be true!
7
posted on
10/21/2007 9:33:09 PM PDT
by
HuntsvilleTxVeteran
(Remember the Alamo, Goliad and WACO, It is Time for a new San Jacinto)
To: neverdem
scientists are planning to see whether the powdered pig extract can help injured soldiers regrow parts of their fingers.This may be a wonderful thing to maimed soldiers. I hope so. And it's nice that this pig extract will be of no medical use for the Islamists.
Regards
8
posted on
10/21/2007 9:34:11 PM PDT
by
ARE SOLE
(Agents Ramos and Campean are in prison at this very moment.. A "Concerned )Citizen".)
To: neverdem
Interesting choices. Either stay as you are with a missing limb or take the pink pill and become something other than ‘human’.
Nothing is new under the sun.
9
posted on
10/21/2007 9:35:12 PM PDT
by
BGHater
(Bread and Circuses)
To: neverdem
This guy grew an extra finger...
10
posted on
10/21/2007 9:41:24 PM PDT
by
VictoryGal
(Never give up, never surrender!)
To: neverdem
Visions of "The Lizard" come to mind.
To: neverdem; All
12
posted on
10/21/2007 9:53:16 PM PDT
by
PeaceBeWithYou
(De Oppresso Liber! (50 million and counting in Afganistan and Iraq))
To: Grizzled Bear
To: neverdem
"It's Alive."
14
posted on
10/21/2007 9:54:56 PM PDT
by
Wiggins
To: Moonman62
15
posted on
10/21/2007 9:57:14 PM PDT
by
A. Morgan
(Fred Thompson’s solid, he does not waffle. Fred 2008!)
To: neverdem
www.dbc.uci.edu/~mrjc/regen.html
16
posted on
10/21/2007 10:13:23 PM PDT
by
Westlander
(Unleash the Neutron Bomb)
To: A. Morgan; neverdem
Why does the mental image of W. Bobbitt being able to get “re-animated” (digitally enhanced?) brings a shudder?
17
posted on
10/21/2007 10:23:09 PM PDT
by
Robert A Cook PE
(I can only donate monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
To: airborne; El Gato; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Robert A. Cook, PE; lepton; LadyDoc; jb6; tiamat; PGalt; ...
18
posted on
10/21/2007 11:04:39 PM PDT
by
neverdem
(Call talk radio. We need a Constitutional Amendment for Congressional term limits. Let's Roll!)
To: neverdem
19
posted on
10/21/2007 11:15:04 PM PDT
by
Cobra64
(www.BulletBras.net)
To: Westlander
20
posted on
10/21/2007 11:17:13 PM PDT
by
neverdem
(Call talk radio. We need a Constitutional Amendment for Congressional term limits. Let's Roll!)
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