Science Finds New Ways to Regrow Fingers

[joeunderdog]

here's the guy who sliced off a fingertip but grew it back, after he treated the wound with an extract of pig bladder. And the scientists who grow extra arms on salamanders. And the laboratory mice with the eerie ability to heal themselves.

This summer, scientists are planning to see whether the powdered pig extract can help injured soldiers regrow parts of their fingers. And a large federally funded project is trying to unlock the secrets of how some animals regrow body parts so well, with hopes of applying the the lessons to humans.

snip
Re: the case study in the article:
Spievack, however, did have a major advantage _ a brother, Alan, a former Harvard surgeon who'd founded a company called ACell Inc., that makes an extract of pig bladder for promoting healing and tissue regeneration.

It helps horses regrow ligaments, for example, and the federal government has given clearance to market it for use in people. Similar formulations have been used in many people to do things like treat ulcers and other wounds and help make cartilage.

The summer before Lee Spievack's accident, Dr. Alan Spievack had used it on a neighbor who'd cut his fingertip off on a tablesaw. The man's fingertip grew back over four to six weeks, Alan Spievack said.


http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/02/19/590706.html&cvqh=itn_lostfingers

[soothsayer]

1. science stumbles on OLD way to regrow fingers. SOunds like

the medicine men and shamans beat them to it...again!

[Igel]

3. Can you give a link to the "old way"?

The article certainly doesn't mention one.

[Richard Steele]

2. self-delete