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Well...this is cool. Man Regrows finger with magic powder.

OK, not quite magic, but it makes for a fun title.
[url]http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/22/sunday/main3960219.shtml[/url]

[quote]Three years ago, Lee Spievack sliced off the tip of his finger in the propeller of a hobby shop airplane.

What happened next, Andrews reports, propelled him into the future of medicine. Spievack's brother, Alan, a medical research scientist, sent him a special powder and told him to sprinkle it on the wound.

"I powdered it on until it was covered," Spievack recalled.

To his astonishment, every bit of his fingertip grew back.

"Your finger grew back," Andrews asked Spievack, "flesh, blood, vessels and nail?"

"Four weeks," he answered.[/quote]

Comments

  • HuntSmackerHuntSmacker Firstones Ambassador to Starcraftia
    This should be bigger news than it is. But it ain't. Why's that? :(
  • MessiahMessiah Failed Experiment
    Human immortality at our fingertips? :p
  • I recently read this paper comparing the regenerative process in salamanders to the human healing process. Apparently, salamander cells have this magic ability to revert back to stem cells given the right prompting, and scientists are extremely hopeful that they'll be able to duplicate the effect in humans within our lifetimes.

    One of the things that encouraged them is the fact that, in general, fingertips will grow back. It's just that the standard medical intervention in the case of such an injury stymies this natural regeneration process - the drastic measures taken to close the wound and stop the bleeding often interfere with the natural healing process.

    [url=http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=regrowing-human-limbs&ec=su_limbs]Link for the less lazy[/url]
  • StingrayStingray Elite Ranger
    Interesting, it's always nice to see that there are still possibilities and ways to solve our problems.
  • sataicallistasataicallista High Priestess of Squeee!
    Holy crap this is amazing! O.O
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    Why am I having a hard time believing this.
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    [QUOTE=croxis;171234]Why am I having a hard time believing this.[/QUOTE]

    Because you're reading summary coverage from an nth party source which is simplifying something substantially more involved.

    My suspicion is that this cannot, in its present form, be used to re-form complicated structures or even do much than provide basic functionality. The lack of sufficient photo documentation in the article makes me wonder if things like the fingerprint were accurately restored or not and if the new tissue actually has any measure of blood flow.
  • Last I herd the bone of the finger can't be regrown. In a little kid, 3ish?, The tip will regrow naturally. What changes that a little kid can heal and an older kid can't?
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    Metabolism slows down. Little kid is still growing into a being four times its mass. Adult has already reached its final state and can only decay from there.

    edit: [URL="http://health.howstuffworks.com/extracellular-matrix.htm"]Clarification![/URL]
  • They don't think bone. Well I read it there now too.

    (But they aren't sure)
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    "Doctor gave me a pill and I grew a new kidney!"
  • sataicallistasataicallista High Priestess of Squeee!
    haha Voyage Home FTW!
  • Random ChaosRandom Chaos Actually Carefully-selected Order in disguise
    This looks incredibly promising. Let's see what we have in a couple years. People with extra limbs? Five foot long fingers? Hmm....
  • Vorlons in my HeadVorlons in my Head The Vorlons told me to.
    hmmm... maybe he should have put the powder on the cut off finger tip and seen if a full clone would grow from it.
  • Ya, five foot long fingers. Thats what we'll see. No one would ever use it for anything else.
  • MessiahMessiah Failed Experiment
    Finglonger?
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