Regeneration
of humans is the act of reforming a body part to its natural appearance after
damage. For example if a leg is amputated, then regeneration of the leg would
mean that leg would regrow and appear the same way as it was before getting
damaged. Regeneration of humans only exists to a limited extent, the most
severe damage a human can regenerate is the front of a fingertip being regrown.
Humans currently have no way of regenerating bone or nerve tissue.
Many people around the world are
missing certain limbs with over a million people in the US alone missing a
limb. Also, a good portion of these people are war veterans who risk their
lives for their country, each year roughly 120 American soldiers lose a limb
and these veterans along with the general limbless population usually choose to
have a prosthetic limb which may give them some attributes of a real limb but
not nearly all as the sense of feel is very weak in prosthetics and the thought
of knowing you don’t have a real limb can be frustrating and challenging.
Regeneration would allow these people to live their lives as they did before
getting injured, although initially the regeneration process of a leg or arm
would take at least 20 years to complete on a human, it would be a lot faster
for future generations.
The actual process of regeneration
of human limbs is far to come, most likely not within the next 30 years.
However, there are ways that have been researched on how to make this
phenomenon possible. The primary step in each case involves extracting a
certain cell or gene and the primary long-term goals are to be able to add the
cell or gene to a wound site which would allow regenerative properties for the
human. Macrophages are one of the cells that are currently being researched for
use in human regeneration. They are a type of repairing cell which devours dead
cells and triggers immune cells to respond to pathogens such as bacteria and
virus carrying cells. When macrophages were removed from salamanders at Monash
University in Australia where it is currently being studied, the salamanders no
longer hand regenerative properties. When a salamander loses a limb, nerve
signals are sent causing growth to start again under the stump. Another gene that may be the
answer to human regeneration is gene p21, which when removed from MRL mice in
an American lab allowed them to regenerate, holes in the mice had been repaired
along with hair follicles and cartilage. This has been the only mammal so far
in which scientists have been able to give amphibian-like regenerative
properties to. However, the removal of gene p21 can easily lead to uncontrollable
cell division also known as cancer.
In
my opinion scientists are a far way from discovering regeneration of human
limbs, however, I believe that they should continue to work with their current
cells and genes that they believe might be the answer but also continue to
examine DNA of regenerative creatures in order to find any other cells or genes
which may actually be the answer to regeneration of humans. Initially, I
believe scientists should focus on the short-term goal of scarless healing
because that is regeneration in a lower form, I believe if they research and
progress in small steps they will be able to regenerate human limbs eventually.
This would help millions of people around the world, the ability to have a
fully functioning limb is something that almost everyone would be able to have.
Sources
Scientists identify cell that could hold the secret
to limb regeneration
The role of p21 in regulating mammalian regeneration
How can salamanders regrow body parts?
How
much DNA?
Pig’s Extracellular Matrix
Regeneration
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