The Regeneration of a Newt
When humans lose a leg, their leg never regenerates. On the other hand, newts have the ability to regenerate a lost limb. Although humans and the other higher animals lack the ability, the capability of lower animals to regenerate is excellent. Newts have an especially excellent ability for regeneration; they can even repair their heart. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim found the molecular mechanism of newt heart regeneration.
Notophthalmus viridescens , a newt found in North America swamps was the subjecti of this study. This newt's heart muscle cells have some particular characteristics. First, after a newt gets a wound in its heart, the heart muscle cells can lose properties they originally had. In this process, proteins of heart muscle cells are rapidly controlled and the cells start cell division in order to create new heart muscle. Then, two weeks later, the heart muscle cells are completely repaired. Second, the heart muscle cells of a newt have a protein, phosphorylated histone H3, and the newt can regrow the heart without relying on stem cells. In addition, the researchers concluded that a newt might not need a blastema, which is a mass of undifferentiated cells capable of regeneration. Third, the researchers showed that the process of regenerating a leg and the process of regenerating a heart were different. In the process of regenerating a leg, a newt needs a blastema. This is because blastema cells have specific chracteristics in common with stem cells. When heart muscle cells are injected into the leg of a newt which is regenerating, the cells lose their characteristic properties. On the other hand, when they are injected into an undamaged leg, they do not dedifferentiate. From these results, the researchers got the idea that particular enzymes operated the cells for regeneration.
Thus, a newt has excellent plasticity of the heart cells when the heart gets damage. Humans do not have the same powers of regeneration that a newt does, but further study of a newt may reveal a way to regenerate damaged or lost tissue and organs.
posted by tsaori
posted by PWH @ 8:10 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
I must say that was a very interesting topic you chose. Science is quite miraculous isn't it? I wonder how long it will take scientists to locate the gene in the Newt so we can start applying those characteristics in humans too. The ability for such a small creature to regenerate even a leg is quite the advantage to their species. However, to regenerate their heart seems to be something out of a science fiction novel. It really shocks me that I haven't ever heard about a land creature that can regenerate its body parts. I knew that lizards can lose and regrow their tails, but to imagine the possibilities for the medical community if they can find a way to take this miracle of nature and apply it to modern medicine.
I am hopeful that one day we will be able to apply the newt's regenerating ability to the needs of medicine but I think that it won't be as simple as some people think. There are two reasons why I think this. One reason is that our bodies are much more complex than the body of a newt and therefore would have a much harder time to regenerate. The second reason is that newts have evolved and aquired this ability for their own survival needs. We ,on the other hand, have nothing even close to this ability and I wonder if we can bridge the gap between the two very different organisms.
wow. I was completely surprised by this information. I had no idea that there were animals that could regenerate body parts. Is is only the heart and leg that the newt can regenerate, or can they regenerate other parts like a tail for example? What other animals have these capabilities? Imagine if humans had this ability!
- murphyl6
Wow, I never knew newts are such fascinating creatures. I wonder if newts and earth worms have the same protein to regenerate body parts. But unlike newts, two worms can be formed if one worm is cut into two. Maybe years later, there would be new medicine that can help humans with regeneration.
This is a very interesting topic to be discussed because it could be an insight into helping people. Regrowing human tissue is a very contraversial topic but also one that many people wish to come true. An option of regenerating lost tissue, without using stem cells, could lead to a faster discovery and cure for people who've suffered heart attacks or other problems. A question that I have is, why do these newts have blastema for their legs and not for their hearts, and why have they not adapted to have only one enzyme to perform the job for the heart and limbs? This was an excellent topic. Thank you for your research.
-morsbac6
This is a very interesting topic which could hold great potential for the future. However, is the point of your paper just to describe how a newt regenerates its limbs/heart, or is it to explain the research being done on this subject with hopes that this could be applied to humans someday? You slightly touch upon the latter of the two but I think that if that is your main point it needs a little more emphasis. Also I still do not quite grasp how it is that newts are able to do this. You gave a few steps to the process, but I do not understand how just by having an extra protein can allow for regeneration. I don't know if there is a limit to how long your article can be, but I would like to see a little more detail if possible. Lastly, I know I'm only supposed to be reading this from a biology standpoint but I found this paper to have way too many grammatical errors.
mccannc6
That was a really interesting topic. I did not know that newts could regenerate both their hearts and their legs. I think that if further research is done then it will yield great results that would allow individuals in need of organ transplants to regenerate their damaged organs. Currently, in the United States and world-wide they're such a shortage of organs and organ donors and many die just being on the list waiting to receive an organ. If science could allow sick patients to regenerate their damaged organs that would be miraculous! I was a little confused involving which newts the scientists performed the research on. Were they from a swamp? This particular research shows just how far modern medicine has come and shows what the future can hold for man-kind.
Again, very interesting topic! It is so fascinating how a small newt can be able to regenerate itself and a large complicated human-being can not. I hope that further research in this subject yields the results modern medicine needs.
This is a very interesting topic to be discussed because it could be an insight
into helping people. Regrowing human tissue is a very contaversial topic but
also one that many people wish to come true. An option of regenerating lost
tissue, without using stem cells, could lead to a faster discovery and cure for
people who've suffered heart attacks or other problems. A question that I have
is, why do these newts have blastema for their legs and not for their hearts,
and why have they not adapted to have only one enzyme to perform the job for the
heart and limbs? This was an excellent topic and is an amazing discovery with
potential to save lives. Thank you for your research.
-morsbac6
This article was great, and very intersting. I hope this new "regeneration" of a body part would be possible in humans as well. Just think about all the soldiers that lost a hand or a leg in the Irq war and be able to walk or use their hands again, it would be a miracle. On the other side, if humans would be able to regenerate body parts then the word "death" would probably not exist anymore.
Mike
This article was great, and very intersting. I hope this new "regeneration" of a body part would be possible in humans as well. Just think about all the soldiers that lost a hand or a leg in the Irq war and be able to walk or use their hands again, it would be a miracle. On the other side, if humans would be able to regenerate body parts then the word "death" would probably not exist anymore.
Mike
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