Awesomely cool

There's no other way to describe this BBC report on a regenerative powder that apparently can regrow missing fingertips - and potentially much more.

Watch the video (it's slightly graphic), read the article, and be amazed.

HT: HotAir.

Comments

[Bryan.A]

Amazing is all I can say.Nice find Dude.

To bring up something controversial, I wonder if this can help fix guys who were unfortunately born in an area where ritual mutilation (circumcision) is still practiced.

[Hope Rivers]

Hey male circumcision is nothing compared to what they still do too women today all over the world, especially places like Africa.
Here's some pictures on female mutilation

I reckon the fairy dust should go to the women first, don't you? :-)

[Hope Rivers]

Now who on earth came up with that idea I wonder?

Hey, mutilation is mutilation. It's all disgusting.

[Hope Rivers]

Yes true and I've heard some horror stories on male circumsion also, when they chop off a little too much skin....very debilitating.

[Michael Prescott]

Doubts are being raised about these claims, with one doctor saying the tip of the finger would naturally regenerate with or without any "magic" powder. See the tail end of this story.

[Michael H]

Scientific American claims the same thing on page 4 of this article, Michael:

One of the most encouraging signs that human limb regeneration is a feasible goal is the fact that our fingertips already have an intrinsic ability to regenerate. This observation was made first in young children more than 30 years ago, but since then similar findings have been reported in teenagers and even adults. Fostering regeneration in a fingertip amputation injury is apparently as simple as cleaning the wound and covering it with a simple dressing. If allowed to heal naturally, the fingertip restores its contour, fingerprint and sensation and undergoes a varying degree of lengthening. The success of this conservative treatment of fingertip amputation injuries has been documented in medical journals thousands of times. Interestingly, the alternative protocol for such injuries typically included operating to suture a skin flap over the amputation wound, a “treatment” that we now know will inhibit regeneration even in the salamander because it interferes with formation of the wound epidermis. The profound message in these reports is that human beings have inherent regenerative capabilities that, sadly, have been suppressed by some of our own traditional medical practices.

This may become a reality as our understanding of genetics advances. There are many scientists who are convinced that stem cell research may eventually lead to the ability to regenerate organs and limbs - some think that even spinal cord injuries could be healed through regeneration.

What's puzzling to me is that when we are in the embryonic state, the genetic data to grow everything is there and active - it's as if the switch is 'turned off' following our initial development. Yet for some reason, some organisms (like the salamander) retain the ability to regenerate full limbs into adulthood.

With all that we've accomplished, we tend to forget that there's still much more that we don't understand than there is that we do.