Many people have scars, whether they’re from a bicycle accident as a kid or a burn at the kitchen stove. A team of scientists says they’ve found that your body’s ability to form a scar is what keeps you from just regenerating any missing parts of your body, including limbs and organs. Researchers at the MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, have been studying how salamanders can regrow missing tails, limbs, and even organs, and they think they’ve figured out a part of the mystery, and it all comes down to the fact that salamanders don’t scar when they heal an injury.
It’s a bit deep, but the researchers say the process that allows humans to form a scar while healing an injury could be the reason we can’t just regrow body tissue with no signs an injury ever happened. They say humans have the “untapped potential” to regenerate any lost part of their bodies, just like the axolotls. These salamanders can regrow just about any body part, including their brain, heart, lungs, skin, tail, and even their eyes.
Don’t get too excited that your chance to be Wolverine from the X-Men is here; the scientists say the ability to unlock regeneration for people is in “the distant future.” The paper on the research was published in the journalDevelopmental Dynamicsif you’re in the mood for some “light” reading.
Source:Daily Mail