Drexel professor develops technique for reducing scars
Ronald Kotulak
Issue date: 10/5/07 Section: Science and Technology
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Buoyed by recent genetic breakthroughs, researchers at Northwestern University and across the country say they have hopes of achieving a feat long thought to be impossible: enabling people to replace damaged body parts or even regrow missing limbs.
Like salamanders and other lower species, humans possess genes that direct the body to make new arms and legs after an injury. But in humans the genes lie dormant, inactivated after evolution favored the swift patching of wounds through scarring over the slow regeneration of body parts.
The discoverer of those genetic switches, Northwestern University developmental biologist Hans-Georg Simon, and other researchers now think they can find a way to turn on the dormant genes. A person who lost a leg might be able to generate a new one.
"All of a sudden this becomes not so much science fiction but really a challenging science problem," said Dr. Stephen Badylak of the University of Pittsburgh, who is coordinating one of the research teams. "This particular project to regrow digits and limbs on humans is kind of like saying we're going to go to the moon."
The project, the first national scientific effort of its kind, is heavily financed by the U.S. military, which is seeking better therapies for the unprecedented number of military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan who are surviving previously mortal wounds, but often without arms or legs.
No one expects amputees to be able to regrow their missing parts any time soon. But there is increasing optimism that therapies can be developed in the next 5 to 10 years to prevent the formation of scars and to restore damaged or lost tissue from wounds, heart attacks, spinal cord injuries or Alzheimer's disease.
Pediatric surgeons were the first to witness the magical power of regeneration genes about 20 years ago when they began performing daring fetal surgery in early pregnancy. They were astonished to discover the fetus would later be born perfectly healed. No scars.
Like salamanders and other lower species, humans possess genes that direct the body to make new arms and legs after an injury. But in humans the genes lie dormant, inactivated after evolution favored the swift patching of wounds through scarring over the slow regeneration of body parts.
The discoverer of those genetic switches, Northwestern University developmental biologist Hans-Georg Simon, and other researchers now think they can find a way to turn on the dormant genes. A person who lost a leg might be able to generate a new one.
"All of a sudden this becomes not so much science fiction but really a challenging science problem," said Dr. Stephen Badylak of the University of Pittsburgh, who is coordinating one of the research teams. "This particular project to regrow digits and limbs on humans is kind of like saying we're going to go to the moon."
The project, the first national scientific effort of its kind, is heavily financed by the U.S. military, which is seeking better therapies for the unprecedented number of military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan who are surviving previously mortal wounds, but often without arms or legs.
No one expects amputees to be able to regrow their missing parts any time soon. But there is increasing optimism that therapies can be developed in the next 5 to 10 years to prevent the formation of scars and to restore damaged or lost tissue from wounds, heart attacks, spinal cord injuries or Alzheimer's disease.
Pediatric surgeons were the first to witness the magical power of regeneration genes about 20 years ago when they began performing daring fetal surgery in early pregnancy. They were astonished to discover the fetus would later be born perfectly healed. No scars.
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