housedoctor Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 When do you think we can be able to regenerate parts of our body? Internally or externally I think skin would be easier like for scars. What about nerves? tissues? Ligaments organs. Etc. I know it probably won't be soon. I'm so scared as I'm not getting any younger and my body is no longer functioning as it used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iNow Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Yeah, we can already do skin. In fact, you can grow it using an inkjet printer. They've been doing this for more than four years already, so I'm sure it's only improved: http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/20/2257252 Scientists at the University of Manchester in the UK have developed a type of inkjet printer that can print human cells. The scientists claim that it will be possible to print 'made-to-measure' tissue and bones to be grown simply by inputting their dimensions into a computer. But that's not all, the printer's creator claims that the potential of his team's discovery is enormous: 'You could print the scaffolding to create an organ in a day,' well, one day maybe. Nerves and tissues? Well, I'm not sure, but I bet it happens before the end of Obama's first term in office. Also, simply growing things like arms or legs does not mean we can simply reattach them and have the start working again. That takes some pretty significant nerve connection and re-training of the motor cortex in the brain. Anyway, the inkjet-based biomanufacturing techonology article (I think) first appeared in the journal Science here: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;305/5692/1895 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
housedoctor Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 is this real? =/ I hope it is, I've basically so scared as I don't think my damaged organs will ever be able to function again. I hope they will be. I'm so scared right now I'm most scared about not being able to function as I used to. I wish it were that fast. I've looked up regeneration and since last year supposedly it was all fake with the pigs bladder regenerating tissue. However it probably could work since it was external but my problem is internal organs/tissues/nerves/ligaments etc. Internal stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iNow Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Well, what I posted is very real, yes. It's still very much in its infancy, and early on in the process so not widely available, but it's very real research being conducted. I don't know what specific tissue and/or organ troubles you may be facing, and I certainly wish you the best of luck no matter what, but the technology being discussed in this thread is a bit beyond accessibility and something more conventional will likely be more helpful to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 There was a SciAm article a while back talking about how we have everything a salamander has for regenerative growth of a whole limb, but that process is overridden by the formation of scar tissue, presumably due to evolutionary pressure. I guess it's more beneficial for humans to stop bleeding quickly as opposed to waiting for regenerative growth. Salamanders don't form scar tissue, they just move right into some kind of embryonic generation of the leg, tail, toe or whatever was lost. Supposedly, if we can find out how to affect the hierarchy of the scarring process, we may be able to inhibit it in favor of regeneration. Ah, I found it: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=regrowing-human-limbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visceral Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 There was a SciAm article a while back talking about how we have everything a salamander has for regenerative growth of a whole limb, but that process is overridden by the formation of scar tissue, presumably due to evolutionary pressure. I guess it's more beneficial for humans to stop bleeding quickly as opposed to waiting for regenerative growth. Salamanders don't form scar tissue, they just move right into some kind of embryonic generation of the leg, tail, toe or whatever was lost. Supposedly, if we can find out how to affect the hierarchy of the scarring process, we may be able to inhibit it in favor of regeneration. Ah, I found it: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=regrowing-human-limbs **** that's really cool! How do salamanders deal with bleeding, then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokele Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Clots still form, but no scarring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
housedoctor Posted February 14, 2009 Author Share Posted February 14, 2009 so we have the ability still in us to regenerate but because we must heal it as quickly as possible our bodies create scar tissue. So if we find out how to stop the scar process we can get the regeneration that is still within us to work? So basically if the places where we already have scar tissues we can't break down the scar tissue and make it regenerate(when we learn how to)? So even if we find out one day it would only work on new wounds or injuries not old ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 so we have the ability still in us to regenerate but because we must heal it as quickly as possible our bodies create scar tissue. So if we find out how to stop the scar process we can get the regeneration that is still within us to work?So basically if the places where we already have scar tissues we can't break down the scar tissue and make it regenerate(when we learn how to)? So even if we find out one day it would only work on new wounds or injuries not old ones? These sound like absolutes but have question marks, so I'm confused (admittedly easy to do). I don't know if we're far enough along in the research to know anything absolutely. It's my understanding that if you had scar tissue covering an arm stump, removing the scar tissue and encouraging the embryonic cell growth would renew the whole arm. One of the most significant uses would be teeth, imo. Not everyone loses a limb but regrowing lost adult teeth would be incredibly handy and a prolific use of the discovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokele Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 I suspect it's not that simple, and that the regeneration ability has been deliberately lost. Mammals are fairly unusual in their risk for cancer, in large part because we have such a super-fast metabolism which constantly spits out DNA-damaging waste. As a result, to keep cancer at bay until old age, we've had to discard some formerly useful genetic traits in favor of maximal developmental and genetic stability. We've lost regeneration so that cancer cells have to recreate cellular immortality, holding them at bay just a little longer. It's the same think with our necks. Why do most mammals have just 7 neck vertebrae, while the number varies with evolution in other lineages? Because of the desperate needs for developmental stability in the face of such a fast metabolism. Kids born with cervical ribs have a 125x higher rate of cancer. Not 125%, 125 times. Conversely, the only mammals who depart from 7 cervical vertebrae are sloths and manatees, known for their slow metabolisms. Mokele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
housedoctor Posted February 14, 2009 Author Share Posted February 14, 2009 that's both good and bad to hear. obviously it is not easy to discover. I wish i could break down the scar tissue but it's so much harder when it's internal. I just don't know just how you can remove the tissue after such a long time and not just that but for it to not actually cause even more scarring. I think if the ability is lost than can and if we reactivate that ability if that's even possible to regrow parts will that just make us have a greater risk of getting cancer so basically it wouldn't really be helping us either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDG Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 One of the potential applications of stem cells. BTW, the human liver naturally regenerates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
housedoctor Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 if there is scar tissue than or damaged tissue or whatever than you can't regenerate it even with the stem cells. I read where they used stem cells on scar tissue and it can't grow on those muscles because of the scar tissue. This saddens me as I have a lot of scar tissue, damaged tissue and possibly dead tissue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moth Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 watch this: i'm waiting for a new spinal cord for my neck. he starts with the economy but keep watching it's only about 20 min. long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iNow Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I know that I'll be sorry I asked, but... Dude... what the hell happened to you, anyway? What's got you so sad and freaked out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewhill Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 How long will it be until one can extend life? And what about pacap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 How long will it be until one can extend life?We extend life a bit every day with new discoveries and treatments. Can you define some parameters for your question? And what about pacap.Can you perhaps explain what you know about this gene and why you mention it in terms of extending life? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now