• Question: Could we possibly use other species' cells (e.g. newts and flatworms) to develop a regenerative ability for diseases or even lost limbs?

    Asked by Ethan to Eleni, Hannah, Jenny, Oli, Steven on 15 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Hannah Bolt

      Hannah Bolt answered on 15 Nov 2016:

      Hi Ethan,

      That’s a really interesting idea! Certain animals can regenerate limbs, like lizards that can regrow legs or tails if they are pulled off, star fish that can regrow arms if they get chopped off or even an extreme case of a flat worm that will form two new worms if you cut one in half! Nature is really cool sometimes ?

      These animals are capable of regenerating nerve connections and tissues. Lots of scientists are studying animals like this to see if they could be used in medicine in the future, like you suggest. Recently scientists have found things in the genes of some of these animals common across several species. This could act as a starting point to develop new treatments to help humans regenerate limbs or organs in the future!

      I should probably also say that the human liver has the ability to regenerate itself too! If a patient has part of their liver removed, it can grow back into a full sized and healthy liver over time. So the human body can regenerate too, just not as well as the flatworms and lizards!

      Hannah

    • Photo: Steven Street

      Steven Street answered on 15 Nov 2016:

      Hi Ethan,

      I’m not the best qualified person to answer this question, but I’ll give it a go!

      One of the main problems with using cells from another species is that they are very different. They will have a different genetic code, and a whole host of other differences. This means that making them compatible with humans would require a large amount of genetic engineering and manipulation on the part of humans. It might be possible, but it would be a lot of work!

      Another possibility is to take genes of interest from one species, and implant them into the genome of another. This is an extremely exciting and relatively new area of research called synthetic biology, and holds great promise for the future! So far scientists have taken sheep and made them produce an extremely rare spiders silk instead of their usual milk!

      more info can be found here:
      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16554357

      Maybe one of the others can explain more than I can!

      Steve

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