Originally published October 4 2005
Pennsylvania lab attempts to find the healing gene
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Ellen Heber-Katz, a professor of molecular and cellular oncogenesis at Wistar Institute in Pennsylvania, has found that the mice in her experiments are able to regenerate vital organs, prompting other laboratories to combine on the project in hopes of isolating the regenerative gene.
The results stunned scientists because if such regeneration is possible in this mammal, it might also be possible in humans.
The researchers also made a remarkable second discovery: When cells from the regenerative mice were injected into normal mice, the normal mice adopted the ability to regenerate.
And when the special mice bred with normal mice, their offspring inherited souped-up regeneration capabilities.
"If we identified the molecules that allow mice that don't regenerate to regenerate ...
Heber-Katz discovered the strain in 1998 accidentally while working with mice specially bred for studying autoimmune diseases.
The incredible wound-healing they observed abruptly shifted the focus of Heber-Katz's lab's research from autoimmune disease to regenerative medicine.
They are focusing on three specific genes at the moment, but she suspects that many more likely contribute to the regenerative abilities.
While some amphibians can regrow body parts, mammals for the most part do not have that ability, making this a very special mouse indeed.
"When those genes (responsible for the mice regeneration) are found, we can start to think about manipulating them in humans with drugs or (later) gene therapy, thereby enhancing our own regeneration," said Aubrey de Grey, a longevity expert and editor of the scientific journal Rejuvenation Research.
The mice seem to exhibit regenerative capabilities similar to that of human fetuses in the first trimester, said Dr. Stephen Badylak, a surgery research professor and director of the Center for Pre-Clinical Tissue Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh's McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
"It offers us insight into a more fetal-like healing response, where scar tissue is minimal and regeneration is abundant," Badylak said.
Heber-Katz said she will soon publish her results on digit regrowth in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
Heber-Katz presented new data showing that the strain of mice can also grow back severed digits at the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence conference in Cambridge, England.
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