More from the Magazine
April
2008 Issue- Skeptic Wag the Dog
- Letters to the Editors Letters
- Working Knowledge Body Scanners: Weapons Revealed
- Buy the Digital Edition
March 17, 2008 | 28 comments
Regrowing Limbs: Can People Regenerate Body Parts?
Progress on the road to regenerating major body parts, salamander-style, could transform the treatment of amputations and major wounds
By Ken Muneoka, Manjong Han and David M. Gardiner
CLICK TO ENLARGE + AL BEHRMAN AP Photo (Spievak);
Human PotentialNatural human regeneration of amputated fingertips has been well documented, including the recent case of Lee Spievak. His middle finger, about an inch of which was severed by a model airplane propeller, is shown after complete healing. The injury was treated with a protein powder that might have aided regeneration by acting as a scaffold for regrowing tissues.
RSS Feeds
Blog
Podcasts
Mobile
Widgets