Posted on 04/26/2010 3:01:20 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
British boffins say they have identified the key "smed-prop" gene which allows Planarian flatworms to regenerate any part of their body following an injury - even their brains. The discovery is seen as a step towards regeneration therapy for humans in future.
Top bio-boffin Dr Aziz Aboobaker and grad student Daniel Felix, who carried out the new research, say that the discovery of "smed-prep" unlocks the mechanisms by which the hard-to-kill Planarians grow new muscle, gut and brain cells from stem-cells which are present even in adults. Even more importantly, it seems that the information contained in smed-prep also makes the new cells appear in the right place and organise themselves into working structures - as opposed to nonfunctional blobs of protoplasm.
Understanding the process completely in worms, according to Aboobaker, is a necessary prerequisite for making it happen in humans. Another cunning worm trick he wants to get to the bottom of is the method by which the Planarians cope with rogue stem-cells producing defective cells - regeneration gone wrong, after all, in basically cancer.
The doc suggests that it may be possible in future to simply grow new organs and limbs for injuried or sick humans - even, perhaps, to repair their damaged brain in situ. This would be preferable to removing a duff brain and growing a new one, as happens when a planarian worm's head is cut off.
"If we know what is happening when tissues are regenerated under normal circumstances, we can begin to formulate how to replace damaged and diseased organs, tissues and cells in an organised and safe way following an injury caused by trauma or disease. This would be desirable for treating Alzheimer's disease, for example," says Aboobaker.
(Excerpt) Read more at theregister.co.uk ...
What is a boffin?
There’s hope for Joe Biden.
And John Bobbit.
It's a British word for ‘egghead”/"geek".
Boffin is British slang for a scientist/researcher/engineer/Egghead.
If we can really isolate this gene and give it to Democrats they may be able to grow a brain, finally!
In the same issue: Chinese hunters capture a yeti.
Zaphod Beeblebrox approves.
Da^& beat me to it. :)
What’s an Aboobaker?
Knew someone back in high school....
Me: Whatcha been up to?
Person: Growing another head.
Little did I know that such a thing would one day be possible!
“If we can really isolate this gene and give it to Democrats they may be able to grow a brain, finally!”
But wouldn’t a liberal’s two-headed gene be located in their rectum?
Bio-boffin Aziz Aboobaker, meet Zaphod Beeblebrox. Beeblebrox, Aboobaker.
I would recommend this therapy to Al Gore but I don’t see two empty heads being any better than one.
Somehow, I just knew there would be Biden/Obammy/Dimocraps jokes before I even opened the subject.
How could I have guessed?
:-)
Anglicized version of Abu Bakr.
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