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A breakthrough in medical technology could see limb regeneration by utilizing high levels of oxygen on severed bone.

Truth be told, there is a countless list of amazing feats that occur in nature we, as a species, have yet to truly comprehend. For centuries humans have long been trying to replicate some of the more amazing accomplishments Mother Nature rightfully boasts over us.

One of the more amazing achievements that occur in nature has to do with the nimble gecko and the elegant sea star, which can partially regenerate their tails and limbs respectively. Of course, salamanders go one better and are able to regenerate whole limbs. Even humans, to some degree, are able to regenerate damaged livers (partially) or even the tips of our fingers. Now, according to Science Daily, a new study conducted by the Tulane University shows it might actually be possible to promote limb regrowth to levels akin to salamanders by utilizing the very air we breathe.

The Department of Defense-funded study shows that when severed bone is exposed to high levels of oxygen the bone will undergo regrowth. Leading the study is Tulane University’s Mimi Sammarco who found that any bone growth in humans must be triggered in order to activate the type of genes that can stimulate the kind of regenerative growth seen in salamanders.

“What it boils down to is genes (that spur regeneration) don’t just turn themselves on. They turn on because something signals them. So I thought, maybe it’s oxygen that’s turning them on,” Sammarco said in a release for the study. “Oxygen is often the primary signal that turns on various genes.”

To test this, Sammarco and the team at Tulane have been experimenting with samples of bone and exposing them to high levels of oxygen.”What we found is that when you expose regenerating bone to 20 percent oxygen, it’ll respond very favorably but only at a certain time. If you try it too early, like right after amputation, it doesn’t do a whole lot.”

Sammarco and the team’s main focus for the regenerative research centers on the battlefield and the countless soldiers that lose their limbs in combat as well as those suffering from diabetes and other accidents that have led to limb loss. For now, it at least looks like high levels of oxygen shows promise in “turning on” the requisite genes to promote partial regrowth, but since timing proves vital — and getting soldiers to safety during the heat of battle brings forth its own complications — challengers still impede the level of success and regeneration Sammarco is aiming for.

And the problem will only continue to grow worse: ”One out of every 200 Americans is an amputee,” Sammarco explains. “This number is expected to double in the next 40 years and is of particular concern given that amputation injuries have increased considerably due to combat casualties and the increasing amputation issues associated with the rise in diabetes and other related diseases.”

Unfortunately, it looks like it will be a long wait until the day we see entire limbs regenerated. At best we can expect to see doctors regrow limbs partially, and most likely only enough to see about an inch or two of growth, but according to Sammarco – even now — that can make all the difference until medical technology allows for maximum growth.

[Image credit: Dim Dimich/Shutterstock]


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photostill

It is amazing to me, how far medical advances have come. Limb regeneration?

As far as I know the only regeneration beyond tissue regrowth in the human body has been limited to teeth replacement once.

Pardon a small wander in thought at this point but probably one of the greatest drivers of advance in the medical field has been space exploration. It's always one of my stock answers for just what space exploration has given us for the money, though not the sole and only.

I am just dumbfounded at the idea that the ability of limb regeneration may be within our grasp.

We may also be the last generation to die naturally. A couple of possibles are on the horizon.

Singularity; the melding of computer and personality is not yet here but many scientists claim it is within sight.

The death by aging as we know it may also be in sight with the recent discovery and mapping of the newest gene discovery in it's functions. It appears the same gene is unusual as it both controls the reproduction of the end of the gene tips as well as triggers the immune system. The lack of exact tip regeneration and the shorting of the tips over time as they replicate is associated with aging. It is possible we will be the last generation to die of old age.

Thank you for the interesting article.

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js3811

You're welcome P.
One of these days there will be complete limb regeneration but most likely you & me won't be around to see it,but then again...you never know.

Take care.

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