Researchers are closer to unraveling the mystery of science behind regeneration
Many salamanders can readily regenerate a lost limb, but adult mammals, including humans, cannot. Why this is the case is a scientific mystery that has fascinated observers of the natural world for thousands of years.
Now, a team of scientists led by James Godwin, Ph.D., of the MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, has come a step closer to unraveling that mystery with the discovery of differences in molecular signaling that promote regeneration in the axolotl, a highly regenerative salamander, while blocking it in the adult mouse, which is a mammal with limited regenerative ability.
How did birds acquire feathers and why did some birds like ostriches, emus and kiwis lose the ability to fly? One way to address these questions, said Scott V. Edwards, professor of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, is to use comparative genomics, a mapping technology that allows scientists to map genes that code for specific traits.
Our kidneys are charged with the extraordinary task of filtering about 53 gallons of fluid a day, a process that depends on podocytes, tiny, highly specialized cells in the cluster of blood vessels in the kidney where waste is filtered that are highly vulnerable to damage.