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AXOLOTL
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NANOCHIP
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TISSUE ENGINEERING
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BIOELECTRICITY
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RESEARCH INSTITUTE
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Research On Axolotl Limb Regeneration Shows Link To Humans
New research into Axolotl Limb Regeneration by scientists, reveals insights linking the principles of limb regrowth to Mammals which also means Humans. The gifted ability of the Axolotl to replace lost limbs during its adult years has always compelled researchers to understand the process and if it can be applied to humans.
It is been contended that the ability of the salamander to regrow lost appendages also exists in humans in some way. However, during genetic evolution this has become dormant and is the case of understanding how to turn it back on
This has made certain species of the Salamander to be a perfect role model for regeneration in particular the Mexican Salamander known as the Axolotl (meaning sea monster). It does not matter how many times the Axolotl loses a limb, it will regrow it back perfectly in a matter of weeks.
The Axolotl TRUTH
The Axolotl are the true masters in regeneration and will regrow their tails, limbs, their spine and even parts of their brain. It is native to central Mexico which is their only natural habitat, particularly Lake Xochimilco underlying Mexico City.
Unfortunately, the Axolotl is nearly extinct in the wild due to man made pollution going into the rivers and lakes around the city which has damaged their delicate ecosystem. There are efforts to protect them but at the moment very few exist in their natural surroundings.
However, efforts are underway to repopulate them and clean up their environment.
You can get an Axolotl from pet stores so they are not truly extinct but much more support needs to be given to protect them in the wild. Axolotls are also common to be found in laboratories where scientists breed them to study intensely with the aim on understanding their powerful regeneration abilities.
Given their powerful healing abilities and all the secrets still to be revealed it is truly a travesty that they are facing extinction in the wild.
These creatures will one day heal amputees and resolve organ donor problems. Much more awareness needs to be raised to help preserve these amazing amphibious creatures
Axolotl Blastema
If the Axolotl loses a leg, the cells near the stub will accumulate, producing a grouping of cells known as a blastema. This will develop and grow back a fully functional leg that contains many different cell types and tissues, like connecting tissues and muscles. Scientists have contended that there are two possible observations of how the blastema develops:
However, an International group of scientists based in Dresden, Leipzig and Vienna have now overcome the mysteries of how the blastema is formed that had previously puzzled researchers.
Axolotl Limb RegenerationThe team of scientists have developed strains of genetically marked Axolotls, resulting in molecular labels to be expressed that is associated with connecting tissue cells. Secondly, they analysed the activity of different genes within specific cells via applying single cell RNA sequencing.
The combination of these two methods allowed the researchers not only to trace the origin but also the outcome of the blastema-precursors.
This helped scientists to analyse the molecular profiles through the healing process of limb regeneration of the axolotl.
Basically, this has allowed the team to shed new insights on how the axolotl is able to regenerate its limbs with the potential to leading better understanding of how regrowing of lost limbs can be achieved in mammals including humans. The findings of this research reveals that blastema progenitors have their origin in mature fibroblasts.
This means when a limb is lost, the mature cell types de-differentiate into progenitor cell types, which is similar to cells observed in embryonic limb buds.
Their research and findings could not identify any existence of progenitor cells pre-occurring. The pre-existence of such cells had been a initial theory by scientists into the reasons of why the axolotl can regenerate organs and limbs. These discoveries are significant as they are very important to understanding of how regeneration can occur in mammals.
Prayag Murawala from the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) who is one of the authors and writers of the study made the following comments, which are taken from this source:
“When we tried to analyse the fate of cells in regenerating limbs, it used to be like making a fruit juice with a bowl of fruit without knowing what kinds of fruit are inside… but now we can pick apples and make an apple-juice, or we can pick cherries and make cherry-juice from this mix-fruit bowl.”
Murawala also pointed out that they revealed there is no magic wonder cell that the axolotl processes that does not occur in mammals. Instead both rely on fibroblasts when dealing with an injury but one can regrow an arm or leg while the other produces a fibrotic scar.
You can read their discoveries published in Science for further information.
Next StepsWhen an injury occurs in mammals, fibroblasts develop like the salamander but these default into a scar formation on the wounded area. Why is it that fibroblasts in axolotl limb regeneration, go on to develop into stem cell types with the instructions to regrow limbs and organs but mammals do not?
This is the next phase for the team of scientists to understand as they are now working on the next part of this research. Discovering that answer will be the new door opening for the evolution of understanding regrowth of complex body parts.
Previously, I wrote about the Mapping of Axolotl’s Genome and how scientists had a major breakthrough in decoding this and now we are seeing further steps in the right direction in unravelling the Axolotl’s secrets.
New research into Axolotl Limb Regeneration by scientists, reveals insights linking the principles of limb regrowth to Mammals which also means Humans. The gifted ability of the Axolotl to replace lost limbs during its adult years has always compelled researchers to understand the process and if it can be applied to humans.
It is been contended that the ability of the salamander to regrow lost appendages also exists in humans in some way. However, during genetic evolution this has become dormant and is the case of understanding how to turn it back on
This has made certain species of the Salamander to be a perfect role model for regeneration in particular the Mexican Salamander known as the Axolotl (meaning sea monster). It does not matter how many times the Axolotl loses a limb, it will regrow it back perfectly in a matter of weeks.
The Axolotl TRUTH
The Axolotl are the true masters in regeneration and will regrow their tails, limbs, their spine and even parts of their brain. It is native to central Mexico which is their only natural habitat, particularly Lake Xochimilco underlying Mexico City.
Unfortunately, the Axolotl is nearly extinct in the wild due to man made pollution going into the rivers and lakes around the city which has damaged their delicate ecosystem. There are efforts to protect them but at the moment very few exist in their natural surroundings.
However, efforts are underway to repopulate them and clean up their environment.
You can get an Axolotl from pet stores so they are not truly extinct but much more support needs to be given to protect them in the wild. Axolotls are also common to be found in laboratories where scientists breed them to study intensely with the aim on understanding their powerful regeneration abilities.
Given their powerful healing abilities and all the secrets still to be revealed it is truly a travesty that they are facing extinction in the wild.
These creatures will one day heal amputees and resolve organ donor problems. Much more awareness needs to be raised to help preserve these amazing amphibious creatures
Axolotl Blastema
If the Axolotl loses a leg, the cells near the stub will accumulate, producing a grouping of cells known as a blastema. This will develop and grow back a fully functional leg that contains many different cell types and tissues, like connecting tissues and muscles. Scientists have contended that there are two possible observations of how the blastema develops:
- Stem cells that exist within connecting tissues will stay in a dormant state until they are needed or perhaps something else will instruct them when they are required.
- Adult connecting tissue cell types will react to a traumatic injury such as limb loss via de-differentiating into the limb progenitor cells into something like the state of those found in an embryo.
However, an International group of scientists based in Dresden, Leipzig and Vienna have now overcome the mysteries of how the blastema is formed that had previously puzzled researchers.
Axolotl Limb RegenerationThe team of scientists have developed strains of genetically marked Axolotls, resulting in molecular labels to be expressed that is associated with connecting tissue cells. Secondly, they analysed the activity of different genes within specific cells via applying single cell RNA sequencing.
The combination of these two methods allowed the researchers not only to trace the origin but also the outcome of the blastema-precursors.
This helped scientists to analyse the molecular profiles through the healing process of limb regeneration of the axolotl.
Basically, this has allowed the team to shed new insights on how the axolotl is able to regenerate its limbs with the potential to leading better understanding of how regrowing of lost limbs can be achieved in mammals including humans. The findings of this research reveals that blastema progenitors have their origin in mature fibroblasts.
This means when a limb is lost, the mature cell types de-differentiate into progenitor cell types, which is similar to cells observed in embryonic limb buds.
Their research and findings could not identify any existence of progenitor cells pre-occurring. The pre-existence of such cells had been a initial theory by scientists into the reasons of why the axolotl can regenerate organs and limbs. These discoveries are significant as they are very important to understanding of how regeneration can occur in mammals.
Prayag Murawala from the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) who is one of the authors and writers of the study made the following comments, which are taken from this source:
“When we tried to analyse the fate of cells in regenerating limbs, it used to be like making a fruit juice with a bowl of fruit without knowing what kinds of fruit are inside… but now we can pick apples and make an apple-juice, or we can pick cherries and make cherry-juice from this mix-fruit bowl.”
Murawala also pointed out that they revealed there is no magic wonder cell that the axolotl processes that does not occur in mammals. Instead both rely on fibroblasts when dealing with an injury but one can regrow an arm or leg while the other produces a fibrotic scar.
You can read their discoveries published in Science for further information.
Next StepsWhen an injury occurs in mammals, fibroblasts develop like the salamander but these default into a scar formation on the wounded area. Why is it that fibroblasts in axolotl limb regeneration, go on to develop into stem cell types with the instructions to regrow limbs and organs but mammals do not?
This is the next phase for the team of scientists to understand as they are now working on the next part of this research. Discovering that answer will be the new door opening for the evolution of understanding regrowth of complex body parts.
Previously, I wrote about the Mapping of Axolotl’s Genome and how scientists had a major breakthrough in decoding this and now we are seeing further steps in the right direction in unravelling the Axolotl’s secrets.
Human Cell Regeneration With REVOLUTIONARY New Nanochip Technology
At the Ohio State University, Scientists have developed a new Nanochip that is considered to be a major breakthrough in human cell regeneration, since it could lead a medical revolution in how we treat injuries and organ regeneration.
This can all be achieved researchers say with a single touch of a small device, the size of a penny, that could help regrow organs and limbs and repair damaged tissues.
It seems like science fiction but then as a CIA Agent interviewed in a TV Documentary mention once, that what is science ‘fiction’ today is always, but always science fact tomorrow.
Very true and nowhere is that statement more relevant than the emerging field of Nano-technologies.
In this article we look at a ingenious new tiny device that sits on the skin and uses an electrical force field to reprogram cells.
It is a penny-sized pad that scientists have developed which enables the ability to regenerate damaged organs and limbs and the healing of horrific wounds.
Tissue Nanotransfection (TNT)Its a novel concept that could herald a breakthrough in healing the injured and even change the ageing process. The new innovative medical technique is called Tissue NanoTransfection or TNT and is based on using Nanochips, that are placed on the surface of the skin of a living patient.
A small and focused electric field is applied that fires DNA into the skin cells that will cause the cells to convert into a family of natural cells. These cells are ‘tricked’ by containing a set of instructions to help repair the damaged areas in need of healing, such as arteries and even complex organs like the heart.
It offers the possibility of turning the patient’s own tissues into a ‘bio-reactor’ that engineer cells to restore nearby tissues. Alternatively, they can be taken and used on another part of the person’s body for healing and repair.
Basically, the researchers are able to turn skin cells into any type of cell that the body requires to heal itself.
It is really like a new skin patch that is placed on a wounded area. Studies show it can even regrow damaged organs and regenerate injured limbs based on the clinical experiments that have been done on animals.
The NanochipThe device itself is shaped as a square black chip and is no bigger than a penny or finger nail. It operates by adding a droplet of genetic code and then firing it with a source of energy (electrical current). This process takes no more than a second and the Nanochip does not have to stay with you.
This means that once the procedure has been done the Nanochip is removed as the set of instructions has been downloaded and now the regeneration process within the cells starts to take place.
The ResearchOne of the scientists on this research at Ohio State University is Dr. Chandan Sen. He pointed out that by using their new Nanochip technology, it means that patients with injured or compromised organs can be replaced.
Dr Sen is the director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine and Cell-Based Therapies that operates at the Ohio States’ Wexner Medical Center. He was one of those leading this project.
Sen highlights that their research shows that skin is a fertile ground where you can grow the elements of any organ that is declining.
This new amazing research was peer reviewed and published in the Science Journal of Nature Nanotechnology and reveals how the team developed both the new technique and the novel genes. Allowing them to reprogram skin cells on the surface of the animal subjects.
Initial trials done showed that the Nano-technology could help damaged blood vessels be fully restored to complete function within days.
The video presentation below reports of this Breakthrough Device that Heals Organs with a single touch.
Limb Salvaging on Mice and PigsThe study and research reveals that its effects can be seen within days of first use. While clinical trials have not yet been conducted on humans yet, the potential of the regeneration of any human cells are endless.
In one procedure they saw blood flow to a severely wounded leg of a mouse being regenerated within a week since the Nano-pad reprogrammed skin cells to create new vascular cells.
This is very significant as the femoral artery is a limb’s major blood supply. This main artery was severed but then with this process it was healing and restored.
You see, one of the challenges in saving a limb of a patient is make sure the blood supply takes hold when carrying out major surgery on the arm or leg that was severed or badly damaged.
Researchers put the chip on the animal’s damaged limb, delivered the required genetic code and witnessed blood vessels grown and tissues regenerate of the legs within 7 to 14 days.
Sen commented:
‘We preprogrammed their skin cells to become vascular cells… Within a week we began noticing the transformation.’
On the second week, they noticed that active blood vessels had formed and into the third week the legs of the mice where saved and no other form of treatment was required.
Normally with such injuries this would be devastating, resulting in amputation at the damaged site as the only course of treatment.
However, in this case the mice were able to run again.
This shows that powerful and new limb salvaging techniques can be developed that would give the surgeon, trained with this technology, better and more flexible options when trying to save and repair a limb or organ.
The team also duplicated the tests in pigs with astonishing results, with a 98 percent rate of success. This leg-healing process was done after the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland had expressed an interest in this research.
Brain ExperimentsAdditional experiments on the brain of mice where also done, showing powerful results. The chip was placed on to the leg with different a genetic code or proteins and the neurological cells grew in this area.
A few weeks later the scientists detected the firing of neurons. These new developed cells where then taken from the leg and inserted into the animal’s brain for healing tumors.
This has the potential to develop new innovative treatments for Brain Tumors, Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases.
TNT ProjectThis TNT project was conducted with a team of 26 researchers that started small with the aim of regenerating the damaged limbs in mice over a 14 day period. Eventually the Military got interested at Walter Reed mentioned above and the research evolved into a much grander scale where they duplicated this leg healing on pigs.
They concluded that this technology can help troops on the battle field whom are injured but it would need to be applied to the patient within 72 hours of the injury occurring, if it is to be successful treatment.
It is no surprise that the military were interested in this kind of research with the potential to heal the limbs in mice and pigs as they have been doing extensive research into figuring out how to regrow limbs with stem cell research.
Along with and new kinds of limb salvaging techniques. I discuss about this at great length in a previous article on AFIRM (or The Arm Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine).
Also in a more recent article I discussed what the U.S. Military have being doing with limb regeneration research where scientists are studying in helping to reverse engineer what the Axolotl Salamander does in regrowing lost limbs.
The Twenty-Six researchers come from a variety of backgrounds in the fields of science, medicine and engineering where they all worked together to develop and improve on this Nano-technology that is no bigger than a finger nail.
You can read a detail synopsis of this compelling research about their Nanochip technology for restoring tissues and regenerating organs.
Lets look at Related ResearchThis is a number of dot connecting that can be observed here with the regeneration research done at the Ohio State University.
To begin, one of the phenomena that they were applying was an electric current to instruct the cells for regeneration and healing. The use of Bioelectricity is something that the Scientist Dr. Robert O. Becker did extensive research, but his findings were largely ignored by the scientific profession.
It looks like he was well ahead of his time and more of his work is gaining more recognition. You can read about his material in the highly recommend book, Electric Body.
I would say there is a connection with Bioelectricity and Nanotechnology and hopefully more extensive research will be explored deeper into this for regeneration.
The research of Golden Nanoparticles that scientists in Tel Aviv University, Israel where working on.
This was a new development in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine involving the process of inserting gold particles of Nano-probes into cardiac tissues. The purpose of this was to improve the electric signals and communications in cells.
Golden Nanoparticles have a special property of super conductivity power which could hold the potential of overcoming the challenges with signaling in regeneration.
If you are a scientist reading this or are connected in some way with the team at Ohio State University above, perhaps you can forward this information to them in case the research done on Gold Nanoparticles in Israel is of value.
The Future Is NowDr. Chandan Sen is aiming to get approval from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) so they can conduct human clinical trials with this Nanochip technology. Its possible they may get approval for next year. This will allow them to show human feasibility.
Following on from this the flood gates can open with the technology being widely used in five years.
However, they did say it may take some time before it becomes readily available and you can read their comments here.
There is no laboratory based procedures ahead of its use so this means that patients could just pick it up from a GP surgery when it becomes available.
The scientists point out this technology is non-evasive and works almost like a syringe, but the chip is the vaccination device and what you place on the device (set of DNA/RNA instructions) is like what would be contained inside the vaccination.
Interesting Thoughts I think it is worth finishing off with a few words of how radical and huge this technology is. This kind of technology is only the beginning and you will see new developments in the near future.
For example, the company that is involved creating the Nanochip is already producing them locally and the technology has gained interest from a Taiwan based Foxconn Technology Group.
You would be forgiven if you were thinking this technology sounds very Star Trek like. In fact the scientific concept was even predicted in Star Trek and now it is a reality.
It can be rather uncanny but if you look at the Borg in Star Trek where they used Nano technology to assimilate their subjects into the hive mind collective. Nano technology was also used with the Borg to regenerate.
You can almost see how the above Nano-technology that is just starting in its infancy of what can start to resemble what the Borg were doing.
Such technology in the real world would be devastating in the wrong hands but then that has always been the case with the abuse of technologies. Nuclear power can be a great and wonderful thing as an energy source but in the wrong hands but can be appalling.
It is not the science knowledge but the abuse of it and the wrong intent.
I believe with the right kind of checks and balances in place we will be fine and will not lose our humanity as some claim but will enhance it. Expanding on Humanity’s Soul and Creative Accomplishments.
Another thought worth looking at is are we more advance that we think we are?
I am certain if you look at all these scientific disciplines and research, they have probably figured out regeneration and even limb regeneration. If they all came together as One then phenomenal discoveries could be realized with a group focused effort.
This may sound a bit of a stretch but you may have heard about the advancements of Robots and how they are becoming very life like. You cannot not tell the difference from a distance if it is a human or not.
In fact a group of scientists in Oxford University in the Britain, claim that the scientific knowledge to develop robots with human flesh on the outside similar to the Terminator movies, already exists.
If we are that well advanced then Human Limb Regeneration, Breast Regeneration, Organ Regeneration and even Immortality, should be a walk in the park?
However, since we don’t communicate and different groups work in their own separate area of medical expertise, then developments keep isolated.
At the Ohio State University, Scientists have developed a new Nanochip that is considered to be a major breakthrough in human cell regeneration, since it could lead a medical revolution in how we treat injuries and organ regeneration.
This can all be achieved researchers say with a single touch of a small device, the size of a penny, that could help regrow organs and limbs and repair damaged tissues.
It seems like science fiction but then as a CIA Agent interviewed in a TV Documentary mention once, that what is science ‘fiction’ today is always, but always science fact tomorrow.
Very true and nowhere is that statement more relevant than the emerging field of Nano-technologies.
In this article we look at a ingenious new tiny device that sits on the skin and uses an electrical force field to reprogram cells.
It is a penny-sized pad that scientists have developed which enables the ability to regenerate damaged organs and limbs and the healing of horrific wounds.
Tissue Nanotransfection (TNT)Its a novel concept that could herald a breakthrough in healing the injured and even change the ageing process. The new innovative medical technique is called Tissue NanoTransfection or TNT and is based on using Nanochips, that are placed on the surface of the skin of a living patient.
A small and focused electric field is applied that fires DNA into the skin cells that will cause the cells to convert into a family of natural cells. These cells are ‘tricked’ by containing a set of instructions to help repair the damaged areas in need of healing, such as arteries and even complex organs like the heart.
It offers the possibility of turning the patient’s own tissues into a ‘bio-reactor’ that engineer cells to restore nearby tissues. Alternatively, they can be taken and used on another part of the person’s body for healing and repair.
Basically, the researchers are able to turn skin cells into any type of cell that the body requires to heal itself.
It is really like a new skin patch that is placed on a wounded area. Studies show it can even regrow damaged organs and regenerate injured limbs based on the clinical experiments that have been done on animals.
The NanochipThe device itself is shaped as a square black chip and is no bigger than a penny or finger nail. It operates by adding a droplet of genetic code and then firing it with a source of energy (electrical current). This process takes no more than a second and the Nanochip does not have to stay with you.
This means that once the procedure has been done the Nanochip is removed as the set of instructions has been downloaded and now the regeneration process within the cells starts to take place.
The ResearchOne of the scientists on this research at Ohio State University is Dr. Chandan Sen. He pointed out that by using their new Nanochip technology, it means that patients with injured or compromised organs can be replaced.
Dr Sen is the director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine and Cell-Based Therapies that operates at the Ohio States’ Wexner Medical Center. He was one of those leading this project.
Sen highlights that their research shows that skin is a fertile ground where you can grow the elements of any organ that is declining.
This new amazing research was peer reviewed and published in the Science Journal of Nature Nanotechnology and reveals how the team developed both the new technique and the novel genes. Allowing them to reprogram skin cells on the surface of the animal subjects.
Initial trials done showed that the Nano-technology could help damaged blood vessels be fully restored to complete function within days.
The video presentation below reports of this Breakthrough Device that Heals Organs with a single touch.
Limb Salvaging on Mice and PigsThe study and research reveals that its effects can be seen within days of first use. While clinical trials have not yet been conducted on humans yet, the potential of the regeneration of any human cells are endless.
In one procedure they saw blood flow to a severely wounded leg of a mouse being regenerated within a week since the Nano-pad reprogrammed skin cells to create new vascular cells.
This is very significant as the femoral artery is a limb’s major blood supply. This main artery was severed but then with this process it was healing and restored.
You see, one of the challenges in saving a limb of a patient is make sure the blood supply takes hold when carrying out major surgery on the arm or leg that was severed or badly damaged.
Researchers put the chip on the animal’s damaged limb, delivered the required genetic code and witnessed blood vessels grown and tissues regenerate of the legs within 7 to 14 days.
Sen commented:
‘We preprogrammed their skin cells to become vascular cells… Within a week we began noticing the transformation.’
On the second week, they noticed that active blood vessels had formed and into the third week the legs of the mice where saved and no other form of treatment was required.
Normally with such injuries this would be devastating, resulting in amputation at the damaged site as the only course of treatment.
However, in this case the mice were able to run again.
This shows that powerful and new limb salvaging techniques can be developed that would give the surgeon, trained with this technology, better and more flexible options when trying to save and repair a limb or organ.
The team also duplicated the tests in pigs with astonishing results, with a 98 percent rate of success. This leg-healing process was done after the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland had expressed an interest in this research.
Brain ExperimentsAdditional experiments on the brain of mice where also done, showing powerful results. The chip was placed on to the leg with different a genetic code or proteins and the neurological cells grew in this area.
A few weeks later the scientists detected the firing of neurons. These new developed cells where then taken from the leg and inserted into the animal’s brain for healing tumors.
This has the potential to develop new innovative treatments for Brain Tumors, Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases.
TNT ProjectThis TNT project was conducted with a team of 26 researchers that started small with the aim of regenerating the damaged limbs in mice over a 14 day period. Eventually the Military got interested at Walter Reed mentioned above and the research evolved into a much grander scale where they duplicated this leg healing on pigs.
They concluded that this technology can help troops on the battle field whom are injured but it would need to be applied to the patient within 72 hours of the injury occurring, if it is to be successful treatment.
It is no surprise that the military were interested in this kind of research with the potential to heal the limbs in mice and pigs as they have been doing extensive research into figuring out how to regrow limbs with stem cell research.
Along with and new kinds of limb salvaging techniques. I discuss about this at great length in a previous article on AFIRM (or The Arm Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine).
Also in a more recent article I discussed what the U.S. Military have being doing with limb regeneration research where scientists are studying in helping to reverse engineer what the Axolotl Salamander does in regrowing lost limbs.
The Twenty-Six researchers come from a variety of backgrounds in the fields of science, medicine and engineering where they all worked together to develop and improve on this Nano-technology that is no bigger than a finger nail.
You can read a detail synopsis of this compelling research about their Nanochip technology for restoring tissues and regenerating organs.
Lets look at Related ResearchThis is a number of dot connecting that can be observed here with the regeneration research done at the Ohio State University.
To begin, one of the phenomena that they were applying was an electric current to instruct the cells for regeneration and healing. The use of Bioelectricity is something that the Scientist Dr. Robert O. Becker did extensive research, but his findings were largely ignored by the scientific profession.
It looks like he was well ahead of his time and more of his work is gaining more recognition. You can read about his material in the highly recommend book, Electric Body.
I would say there is a connection with Bioelectricity and Nanotechnology and hopefully more extensive research will be explored deeper into this for regeneration.
The research of Golden Nanoparticles that scientists in Tel Aviv University, Israel where working on.
This was a new development in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine involving the process of inserting gold particles of Nano-probes into cardiac tissues. The purpose of this was to improve the electric signals and communications in cells.
Golden Nanoparticles have a special property of super conductivity power which could hold the potential of overcoming the challenges with signaling in regeneration.
If you are a scientist reading this or are connected in some way with the team at Ohio State University above, perhaps you can forward this information to them in case the research done on Gold Nanoparticles in Israel is of value.
The Future Is NowDr. Chandan Sen is aiming to get approval from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) so they can conduct human clinical trials with this Nanochip technology. Its possible they may get approval for next year. This will allow them to show human feasibility.
Following on from this the flood gates can open with the technology being widely used in five years.
However, they did say it may take some time before it becomes readily available and you can read their comments here.
There is no laboratory based procedures ahead of its use so this means that patients could just pick it up from a GP surgery when it becomes available.
The scientists point out this technology is non-evasive and works almost like a syringe, but the chip is the vaccination device and what you place on the device (set of DNA/RNA instructions) is like what would be contained inside the vaccination.
Interesting Thoughts I think it is worth finishing off with a few words of how radical and huge this technology is. This kind of technology is only the beginning and you will see new developments in the near future.
For example, the company that is involved creating the Nanochip is already producing them locally and the technology has gained interest from a Taiwan based Foxconn Technology Group.
You would be forgiven if you were thinking this technology sounds very Star Trek like. In fact the scientific concept was even predicted in Star Trek and now it is a reality.
It can be rather uncanny but if you look at the Borg in Star Trek where they used Nano technology to assimilate their subjects into the hive mind collective. Nano technology was also used with the Borg to regenerate.
You can almost see how the above Nano-technology that is just starting in its infancy of what can start to resemble what the Borg were doing.
Such technology in the real world would be devastating in the wrong hands but then that has always been the case with the abuse of technologies. Nuclear power can be a great and wonderful thing as an energy source but in the wrong hands but can be appalling.
It is not the science knowledge but the abuse of it and the wrong intent.
I believe with the right kind of checks and balances in place we will be fine and will not lose our humanity as some claim but will enhance it. Expanding on Humanity’s Soul and Creative Accomplishments.
Another thought worth looking at is are we more advance that we think we are?
I am certain if you look at all these scientific disciplines and research, they have probably figured out regeneration and even limb regeneration. If they all came together as One then phenomenal discoveries could be realized with a group focused effort.
This may sound a bit of a stretch but you may have heard about the advancements of Robots and how they are becoming very life like. You cannot not tell the difference from a distance if it is a human or not.
In fact a group of scientists in Oxford University in the Britain, claim that the scientific knowledge to develop robots with human flesh on the outside similar to the Terminator movies, already exists.
If we are that well advanced then Human Limb Regeneration, Breast Regeneration, Organ Regeneration and even Immortality, should be a walk in the park?
However, since we don’t communicate and different groups work in their own separate area of medical expertise, then developments keep isolated.
3D Printing Of Human Organs With The Use Of Stem Cells
In this article we will discuss about the technologies used in the 3D printing of human organs with the use of stem cells, looking at what stage of development this science is at. How long will it be possible before printing a new heart? Is it possible to use these developing technologies to print a new limb for a patient based on the patient’s own stem cells?
Many scientists just a decade ago thought that it would be another 50 years before generating something as complex as a new heart could be possible.
Wake Forest University
Ever since I started looking at regrowing lost limbs in humans after the Boston Bombing attacks, I came across Wake Forest University. This included the research of Dr A. Atala with printing of a kidney, cartilage, tissues and ears. They have also been involved in research of how to regenerate a missing Vagina canal for women born with this condition.
Outside of Wake Forest there is now new developments for regeneration of those whom have suffered the horrific act of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) where some or all of the clitoris was removed.
3D Printing of Organs
In North Carolina researchers at Wake Forest have produced a 3D printer technology that can ‘print’ tissues, organs and bones that can potentially be implanted into a patient. You can find out more of this research that has been published in the scientific journal called Nature Biotechnology.
Based on this kind of research the printer acts almost the same as typical 3D printers. It uses a controlled computer nozzle to imprint upon layers of materials in a very precise pattern. These embedded layers eventually condense and harden to produce whatever you are trying to print.
Most typical 3D printers will put down layers of molten metals and plastics, however, Wake Forest’s printers put down what is known as hydrogels. These hydrogels are a water based solution that contain human cells. The printer has multiple nozzles some use the hydrogels and others use biodegradable materials which is needed to give the tissue a printing structure along with strength.
These supporting materials dissolve with tissues incubating in the machine. After this process is complete it may then be possible to implant into the patient.
Advancements of 3D Printing Technologies3D printers are not a new concept and have been around for some time since their initial inception in the 1980s, however, now they are starting to get more mainstream as the costs have come down and the technology has become more advanced and practical to use. Basically more readily available.
You can print all kinds of things, food has also been experimented on where a McDonalds cheese burger was printed and eatable. Granted a 3D printer is not in everyones home yet but this is coming.
In the future you will not need to necessarily buy physical items over the internet and wait for them to be shipped. Instead you will download the data schematics of the product and use your 3D printer at home to print your product. Say for example a pair of shoes or some other item of clothing.
After printing and you try on the new clothing for size and it does not fit, you will make adjustments and then print again until you get the right fit, then you will make your final purchase.
Biological PrintingAt Wake Forest, the researchers have performed three dimensional scanning of jawbones, muscles and human ears that allows the digital templates for their printers to operate on. A cartilage of a muscle, jawbone and an ear-shaped piece is printed out and then these were implanted in to mice.
What is very significant in this line of research that we are discussing here, is they have been able to print out tissues that is able to accommodate blood vessels.
This means that they can receive nutrients and oxygen that the cells need to become alive and thrive.
This has been one of the show stoppers and challenges in the past for many of these 3D printing technologies that have tried to print living tissues for regeneration.
However, according to this research, the printed objects did not show any signs of necrosis or cells dying within the tissue.
Anthony Atala at Wake ForestOne of the leading researchers whom I have followed for sometime is Dr. Anthony Atala.
In a presentation at TED he discussed the technologies that they were working on with human regeneration of body parts.
In the following video presentation he discusses the potentials and shows the human kidney that they had successfully printed.
The kidney was of course not functioning but it demonstrated the potentials of what is yet to come in the near future, with stem cells and regeneration, combined with 3D printing technologies.
The above video was presented back in 2013 but in the current findings discussed here, Dr. Atala points out that the future development of the integrated organ printer is being focused on the production of tissues for eventual clinical use for humans, along with the building of more complex tissues and organs.
He also points out that when printing tissues and human organs then you need to make sure in the final testing stages that the tissues and human organs are going to survive. Their research would indicate the feasibility of printing muscle, bone and cartilage for the patient. They will be using similar strategies to print solid organs as their research expands and grows.
Wake Forest are not the only ones researching in this endeavor and there are many other groups working on such printing technologies for medical purposes.
So when will we see practical applications of these technologies being used on patients? The researchers at Wake Forest say that further development is required before its organs they are printing can be tested on humans.
The US FDA has yet to approve any 3D printing applications for use inside the body but it is very much interested in the scientific progress of this topic.
BioPrinting
New Area of MedicineBioprinting is a new exciting area of medicine that is starting to take off. It works by scientists harvesting human cells from stem cells (or biopsies), these are allowed to multiply in a petri dish. This becomes a resulting mix like a biological printing ink that is fed into the 3D printer.
This three-dimensional printer is programmed to arrange the different types of cells, along with other materials into an intended 3D shape.
Researchers are hoping that when placed in the body these 3D cells that are printed will then integrate into existing tissues inside the body.
3D Printing of a Limb
I was reading a company that specializes in using 3D printing technologies for prosthetic limbs but they are specifically designed for the patient with unique styles, using coloured patterns and tattoos.
From a distance or at a quick glance it can look like someone has a complex tattoo imagery and can blend in with what they are wearing.
However, interestingly this company mentioned that eventually they would start to print a real limb based on the persons own stem cells.
At the moment 3D printing technologies are not advanced enough to print something as complex as a living limb. However, printing of a real limb is the next logical step and is something scientists are actively working on.
They are not there yet with printing replacement organs that can be placed inside the patient. At least not yet, but it is coming along very soon and it will transform the industry with the massive shortage of donors being a major issue at the moment.
In this article we will discuss about the technologies used in the 3D printing of human organs with the use of stem cells, looking at what stage of development this science is at. How long will it be possible before printing a new heart? Is it possible to use these developing technologies to print a new limb for a patient based on the patient’s own stem cells?
Many scientists just a decade ago thought that it would be another 50 years before generating something as complex as a new heart could be possible.
Wake Forest University
Ever since I started looking at regrowing lost limbs in humans after the Boston Bombing attacks, I came across Wake Forest University. This included the research of Dr A. Atala with printing of a kidney, cartilage, tissues and ears. They have also been involved in research of how to regenerate a missing Vagina canal for women born with this condition.
Outside of Wake Forest there is now new developments for regeneration of those whom have suffered the horrific act of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) where some or all of the clitoris was removed.
3D Printing of Organs
In North Carolina researchers at Wake Forest have produced a 3D printer technology that can ‘print’ tissues, organs and bones that can potentially be implanted into a patient. You can find out more of this research that has been published in the scientific journal called Nature Biotechnology.
Based on this kind of research the printer acts almost the same as typical 3D printers. It uses a controlled computer nozzle to imprint upon layers of materials in a very precise pattern. These embedded layers eventually condense and harden to produce whatever you are trying to print.
Most typical 3D printers will put down layers of molten metals and plastics, however, Wake Forest’s printers put down what is known as hydrogels. These hydrogels are a water based solution that contain human cells. The printer has multiple nozzles some use the hydrogels and others use biodegradable materials which is needed to give the tissue a printing structure along with strength.
These supporting materials dissolve with tissues incubating in the machine. After this process is complete it may then be possible to implant into the patient.
Advancements of 3D Printing Technologies3D printers are not a new concept and have been around for some time since their initial inception in the 1980s, however, now they are starting to get more mainstream as the costs have come down and the technology has become more advanced and practical to use. Basically more readily available.
You can print all kinds of things, food has also been experimented on where a McDonalds cheese burger was printed and eatable. Granted a 3D printer is not in everyones home yet but this is coming.
In the future you will not need to necessarily buy physical items over the internet and wait for them to be shipped. Instead you will download the data schematics of the product and use your 3D printer at home to print your product. Say for example a pair of shoes or some other item of clothing.
After printing and you try on the new clothing for size and it does not fit, you will make adjustments and then print again until you get the right fit, then you will make your final purchase.
Biological PrintingAt Wake Forest, the researchers have performed three dimensional scanning of jawbones, muscles and human ears that allows the digital templates for their printers to operate on. A cartilage of a muscle, jawbone and an ear-shaped piece is printed out and then these were implanted in to mice.
What is very significant in this line of research that we are discussing here, is they have been able to print out tissues that is able to accommodate blood vessels.
This means that they can receive nutrients and oxygen that the cells need to become alive and thrive.
This has been one of the show stoppers and challenges in the past for many of these 3D printing technologies that have tried to print living tissues for regeneration.
However, according to this research, the printed objects did not show any signs of necrosis or cells dying within the tissue.
Anthony Atala at Wake ForestOne of the leading researchers whom I have followed for sometime is Dr. Anthony Atala.
In a presentation at TED he discussed the technologies that they were working on with human regeneration of body parts.
In the following video presentation he discusses the potentials and shows the human kidney that they had successfully printed.
The kidney was of course not functioning but it demonstrated the potentials of what is yet to come in the near future, with stem cells and regeneration, combined with 3D printing technologies.
The above video was presented back in 2013 but in the current findings discussed here, Dr. Atala points out that the future development of the integrated organ printer is being focused on the production of tissues for eventual clinical use for humans, along with the building of more complex tissues and organs.
He also points out that when printing tissues and human organs then you need to make sure in the final testing stages that the tissues and human organs are going to survive. Their research would indicate the feasibility of printing muscle, bone and cartilage for the patient. They will be using similar strategies to print solid organs as their research expands and grows.
Wake Forest are not the only ones researching in this endeavor and there are many other groups working on such printing technologies for medical purposes.
So when will we see practical applications of these technologies being used on patients? The researchers at Wake Forest say that further development is required before its organs they are printing can be tested on humans.
The US FDA has yet to approve any 3D printing applications for use inside the body but it is very much interested in the scientific progress of this topic.
BioPrinting
New Area of MedicineBioprinting is a new exciting area of medicine that is starting to take off. It works by scientists harvesting human cells from stem cells (or biopsies), these are allowed to multiply in a petri dish. This becomes a resulting mix like a biological printing ink that is fed into the 3D printer.
This three-dimensional printer is programmed to arrange the different types of cells, along with other materials into an intended 3D shape.
Researchers are hoping that when placed in the body these 3D cells that are printed will then integrate into existing tissues inside the body.
3D Printing of a Limb
I was reading a company that specializes in using 3D printing technologies for prosthetic limbs but they are specifically designed for the patient with unique styles, using coloured patterns and tattoos.
From a distance or at a quick glance it can look like someone has a complex tattoo imagery and can blend in with what they are wearing.
However, interestingly this company mentioned that eventually they would start to print a real limb based on the persons own stem cells.
At the moment 3D printing technologies are not advanced enough to print something as complex as a living limb. However, printing of a real limb is the next logical step and is something scientists are actively working on.
They are not there yet with printing replacement organs that can be placed inside the patient. At least not yet, but it is coming along very soon and it will transform the industry with the massive shortage of donors being a major issue at the moment.
How Can Humans Regenerate Body Parts With Bioelectricity?
In this article we will explore how can humans regenerate body parts using an area of research known as bioelectricity. Also along with this line of inquiry we will discuss what research scientists have done in bioelectricity as a solution to human regeneration.
A lot of research has gone into genetic and stem cell regeneration but bioelectricity has taken a back seat and has not been considered a credible area of research. However, recently some scientists are investigating this more deeply and how it can help in provide real answers to regrowing body parts including the regeneration of lost arms and legs.
Early 1990s
The first time I heard about the possibility of humans regrowing limbs, is in reading about the existence of the etheric body. This was in a book about Out Of Body Experiences and how the authors discussed the existence of this electromagnetic cape that surrounded and interpenetrated the body. Outlining how it can separate from the physical during sleep and in deep meditative states, allowing the consciousness of the person to go on an out of body trip.
It was here that I first came across the research of Dr. Robert O. Becker, whom was scientifically studying the concept of electricity and electromagnetism as part of the make up of the human system. This scientist was an orthopedic surgeon whom advocated and did intense research that electrotherapy can stimulate bone regrowth and tissue regeneration.
Dr Robert O. Becker’s Initial Research
Becker’s original work observed the phenomena known as the “current of injury.” This is the electrical potential that can be measurement of an amputated stump in an animal. When surgically removing a limb from an animal in the lab, he could measure the changes of the electrical patterns at the stump over several days as it went through healing and repair.
In studying the complex regeneration of tissues, Becker was able to identify the repair mechanisms between salamanders and frogs during healing of injuries. Frogs and Salamanders are in the evolutionary genetic stage part, however, salamanders can regrow limbs while frogs are not able to do so.
This shows that frogs have lost the ability to regenerate during the evolutionary process on their genetic journey in the amphibian family tree. The scientist was keen in looking at the electrical changes during the ‘current of injury’ with the stumps of salamanders that could regrow their legs and with frogs who could not.
So Becker would amputate the limbs of salamanders and frogs. He would use electrodes to measure the electrical potential at the point of healing. The frogs would show a positive electrical potential that would eventually drift to a zero or neutral potential as the stump healed over. I created the following diagram to highlight this explanation.
Observing The “Current Of Injury” In Experimental AmputationIn the case of the salamander, the electrical potential at the stump would be the same like the frog initially. However, this positive polarity, would then switch to a negative vibration during the course of healing. This electrical negative potential would then drift to a zero or neutral point during a period of days, as the salamander grow back a new leg.
So the only real difference in these measurements was that the salamander had a swing of positive to negative potential during limb regeneration. Becker wondered what would happen if artificially inducing a negative electrical potential at the frog’s healing stump would change the outcome of repair.
To Becker’s amazement when he applied this the frog’s amputated stump regrew a new leg!
The Electric Body
This is only a partial glimpse of Robert O. Becker’s research and the reader is highly recommend to read up his significant findings in his book The Electric Body. This book covers 30 years of his research and study of what causes limb regeneration with some species.
Looking at his research I would say the electric body is the reason that amputee’s experience what is know as the ‘phantom limb’ where they still experience the missing body part as still being there after it is lost. It is not an illusion. It is because on the etheric level the body part is still there until the electric body adapts to the new situation. Thus the so-called ‘phantom limb’ experience disappears.
We can photograph this electric body today with Kirlian Photography (invented by a Russian scientist) the can image these energy fields. This has been done with plants where the limb of the plant has been lost, yet the energetic level of the limb is still there.
Unfortunately Becker’s research was largely ignored and shunned by the Scientific Establishment Bureaucracies and ignorant scientists. Along with the battle with the scientific community at large that he and is colleges had to deal with since their research went largely unfunded.
The research in ‘The Electric Body’ was a result of going public with Becker’s findings as he was unable to get his research published and accepted in Scientific papers. His research was published at a time before Stem Cell research became popular and perhaps some aspects of his research is superseded by more recent research. However, his work is clearly ahead of his time in understanding bioelectricity and regeneration.
Becker’s points to the day of organ, spinal cord and limb regeneration. He argues that Electricity is vital to life and an important ingredient in the healing process of all life forms. Becker also gave warnings of electromagnetic pollution (radiation) that we are now experiencing with the mobile (cellular) phones and wireless technologies. This is now becoming of a great concern with increasing number of scientists and the health related issues.
Bioelectricity Reborn
The good news is that more scientists in the field of regeneration are now more sympathetic to research like Becker and how bio-electricity is an important part of the jigsaw in understanding human regeneration.
One such scientist is Michael Levin, whom is the director of Tufts University’s Center for Regeneration and Developmental Biology in Medford near Boston. He believes that bioelectricity will help us find important clues in understanding the regeneration process and he feels that limb regeneration will happen in our lifetimes.
Levin’s research is perhaps little known in the wider community may be due to the fact that most pioneers in regeneration feel that the answers are in genetics and stem cells. Of course such research has led to amazing discoveries and achievements already. Including wind pipes, new bladders, regrowing of finger digits and soon trials will be underway for blood regeneration based on patient’s stem cells.
The later being a powerful solution to blood donor shortages. Plus let us not forget that eventually a patient can have a new organ replacement such as a kidneys regrown in the lab based on the patient’s own stem cells.
Is this all a pipe dream? But why?
Humans do have some regenerative abilities also. For example, young children whom have a slice of their finger tip lost, that finger tip will grow back. This ability in children starts to disappear around the age of 12 and beyond. Medical intervention would be required for adults and now developments with extracellular matrix technologies can now stimulate partial or full regrowth in an adult if the tip of the finger is lost.
However, regenerating a small body part is one thing, but if you want to regrow back a whole lost limb? Perhaps there is a way to regenerate damaged retinal tissues. Or regrow an entire eye?
Well my friends there is a good news on the horizon! Scientists like Michael Levin feel this is where we are heading and does not think this is just science fiction and outlandish fantasy. In fact Levin reflects he may be on the verge of a breakthrough to do just that.
He proposes that the key to regeneration, in helping to unlock the hidden codes, is to be found in the electrical signals that are transmitted among our cells. This is very much like a computer matrix program or a sequencing of binary codes of 1s and 0s stored on a computer hard drive.
In manipulating these signalling pathways he has been able to produce results of four-headed flatworms. Continuing with experiments down the line he could make regeneration in humans a reality.
The Electrical Web Of LifeMichael Liven whom is a Russian scientist born in Moscow, heavily researched Dr Robert O. Becker’s work The Electric Body in his early days and traced down all the papers and findings that the book referenced and documented. The end result was an extensive bibliography study into bioelectricity allowing Levin to have a solid background of the methods and ideas proposed by the handful of open minded scientists that continued this field of study in the 1970s and 80s.
It is strange that electricity has been so badly neglected, because it is the essence of life. You will find it everywhere in our bodies, with ions flowing in and out of our cells. You will see electrical pulses flowing down our nerves. The truth is we are walking talking electric circuit boards.
The significance of electricity is well acknowledged when it comes to our nervous system and the heart processes. However, many scientists still today see this body of research as Frankenstein mind set.
For bioelectricity to be seriously revived into the mainstream (and it is heading there now) would require those whom have a vision and forward thinking, not concerned how their passions would appear to others in their field. In other words, taking a few risks, stick out of the box and not follow convention!
Research at the Levin LabAt the department of biology in the Levin Lab where Michael Levin and his team, at the Tufts University, we will explore some of their observations in limb regeneration.
Regrowing Body Parts
There are a number of species that can regrow lost limbs, such as the Mexican Axolotl and the lizard can shed its tail when being attacked by a predator. When this happens and it escapes the lizard will regrow its tail again.
Insects like cockroaches, have the remarkable ability to regenerate their legs just like the starfish and lobsters. The Zebrafish can regrow their fins if lost and they can also regenerate their hearts. A deer will regrow its antlers with large amounts of bone, nerve and skin each year.
Regenerating The Same As The Lost Part
Species that can master regeneration do not always regrow with perfection. The salamander is the jewel in the crown that can always regrow a limb with complete perfection every time.
The tadpole however, can regenerate their tails well but with a few missing nerve types. The ultimate heroes that gives the Newt and the Axolotl a serious run for their money in the regeneration competition of perfection would be the Planaria Flatworm.
Scientists have studied them and they can regenerate with complete perfection, they can regrow any part of the body including their head. In a recent article I wrote up about the weird world of the planarian worm, they can regrow their heads while still retaining their memories prior to decapitation!
Regrowing Legs in Young Frogs
Several years ago the Levin Lab were studying the bioelectrical signals that change in the distribution of the cellular resting potentials within a tissue or organ, which allows young tadpoles to regenerate their tails.
The team discovered that two essential components on the surface of the cells at the wound were required to configure a bioelectric state, stimulating regeneration.
A Proton Pump, this pumps hydrogen ions out of the cell surface. A specific Sodium Channel, that allows sodium ions to flow across the cellular membrane.
This bioelectrical state was an important part of the process to allow cells to multiply up to a point where it was enough to rebuild the structure. Along with allowing genes that are important for the regeneration process to be enabled. Allowing the nerves to develop down the correct path of the new growth.
Limb Regeneration in Older Frogs
The work that Levin’s team is doing is to initiate a ‘leg building module.’ Over the past 10 years their research has shown that such modules are encoded in a matrix of cellular resting potentials over the body’s tissues. It is this pattern that holds and determines the encoded data of which organs and tissues are made and their location.
The team first used gene therapy to allow a proton pump build from yeast, which would trigger the regeneration bioelectric state in older tadpoles. Older tadpoles cannot normally regrow their tails. So this method forced the regrowth of tails, complete with the spinal cord.
A medical cocktail of drugs was created that stimulated the same state with gene therapy. Now when they gave the same set of drugs to froglets, they got fascinating results, with the regrowth of hind legs.
Can this be Applied to Humans?
According to Michael Levin’s research the answer is yes. However, there are a number of factors surrounding this research that needed to be addressed and understood first.
Similar animals along with humans share most cellular biology pathways. This includes the pattern formation mechanisms, which is the basic step by step processes, required to regenerate complex body parts such as the heart.
Dubua-ReymonThe most fundamental and essential mechanisms of bioelectricity is likely to be similar to.
It was back in 1843 when the physiologist Emil du Bois-Reymondfirst used a galvanometer to measure currents in human skin and wounds. Since then they have been used for hundreds of experiments on animals by scientists.
Levin’s team points out that these currents play an important role in healing.
In important collaboration work with other scientists that Dr. Levin works with at Tufts University. It was discovered that the resting potentials across the cell’s surface can control how they can differentiate into other types of cells.
However, the real power of this approach is not in how single cells are controlled, but an insight into how bioelectric communications among large groupings of cells, are directing the growth of complex structures.
What is needed for Humans Regrowing Lost Limbs?
There are two things needed.
In perfecting the signaling then that should someday allow this to be used in serious limb injuries, likely starting with regrowing fingers, toes, hands and feet.
Other Scientists Working In This AreaThere are very few scientists working in this area of bioelectrical research for human regeneration but this will likely change. One particular group of scientists in Scotland have been working with bioelectrical systems in limb regeneration research.
Dr Ann Rajnicek at Aberdeen University points out that the importance of the role of electricity of regeneration and tissue repair has been greatly overlooked by researchers. She and her team have been demonstrating the effects electricity has with flatworms.
She also points out that if you try to sell the idea of the importance of electricity for research into regeneration then you get a cool response from funding agencies.
Most of the those approval organizations providing the funding, want to stay away from bioelectricity in fear of “pseudo” science and feel the answers lay in biochemical mechanisms.
In this article we will explore how can humans regenerate body parts using an area of research known as bioelectricity. Also along with this line of inquiry we will discuss what research scientists have done in bioelectricity as a solution to human regeneration.
A lot of research has gone into genetic and stem cell regeneration but bioelectricity has taken a back seat and has not been considered a credible area of research. However, recently some scientists are investigating this more deeply and how it can help in provide real answers to regrowing body parts including the regeneration of lost arms and legs.
Early 1990s
The first time I heard about the possibility of humans regrowing limbs, is in reading about the existence of the etheric body. This was in a book about Out Of Body Experiences and how the authors discussed the existence of this electromagnetic cape that surrounded and interpenetrated the body. Outlining how it can separate from the physical during sleep and in deep meditative states, allowing the consciousness of the person to go on an out of body trip.
It was here that I first came across the research of Dr. Robert O. Becker, whom was scientifically studying the concept of electricity and electromagnetism as part of the make up of the human system. This scientist was an orthopedic surgeon whom advocated and did intense research that electrotherapy can stimulate bone regrowth and tissue regeneration.
Dr Robert O. Becker’s Initial Research
Becker’s original work observed the phenomena known as the “current of injury.” This is the electrical potential that can be measurement of an amputated stump in an animal. When surgically removing a limb from an animal in the lab, he could measure the changes of the electrical patterns at the stump over several days as it went through healing and repair.
In studying the complex regeneration of tissues, Becker was able to identify the repair mechanisms between salamanders and frogs during healing of injuries. Frogs and Salamanders are in the evolutionary genetic stage part, however, salamanders can regrow limbs while frogs are not able to do so.
This shows that frogs have lost the ability to regenerate during the evolutionary process on their genetic journey in the amphibian family tree. The scientist was keen in looking at the electrical changes during the ‘current of injury’ with the stumps of salamanders that could regrow their legs and with frogs who could not.
So Becker would amputate the limbs of salamanders and frogs. He would use electrodes to measure the electrical potential at the point of healing. The frogs would show a positive electrical potential that would eventually drift to a zero or neutral potential as the stump healed over. I created the following diagram to highlight this explanation.
Observing The “Current Of Injury” In Experimental AmputationIn the case of the salamander, the electrical potential at the stump would be the same like the frog initially. However, this positive polarity, would then switch to a negative vibration during the course of healing. This electrical negative potential would then drift to a zero or neutral point during a period of days, as the salamander grow back a new leg.
So the only real difference in these measurements was that the salamander had a swing of positive to negative potential during limb regeneration. Becker wondered what would happen if artificially inducing a negative electrical potential at the frog’s healing stump would change the outcome of repair.
To Becker’s amazement when he applied this the frog’s amputated stump regrew a new leg!
The Electric Body
This is only a partial glimpse of Robert O. Becker’s research and the reader is highly recommend to read up his significant findings in his book The Electric Body. This book covers 30 years of his research and study of what causes limb regeneration with some species.
Looking at his research I would say the electric body is the reason that amputee’s experience what is know as the ‘phantom limb’ where they still experience the missing body part as still being there after it is lost. It is not an illusion. It is because on the etheric level the body part is still there until the electric body adapts to the new situation. Thus the so-called ‘phantom limb’ experience disappears.
We can photograph this electric body today with Kirlian Photography (invented by a Russian scientist) the can image these energy fields. This has been done with plants where the limb of the plant has been lost, yet the energetic level of the limb is still there.
Unfortunately Becker’s research was largely ignored and shunned by the Scientific Establishment Bureaucracies and ignorant scientists. Along with the battle with the scientific community at large that he and is colleges had to deal with since their research went largely unfunded.
The research in ‘The Electric Body’ was a result of going public with Becker’s findings as he was unable to get his research published and accepted in Scientific papers. His research was published at a time before Stem Cell research became popular and perhaps some aspects of his research is superseded by more recent research. However, his work is clearly ahead of his time in understanding bioelectricity and regeneration.
Becker’s points to the day of organ, spinal cord and limb regeneration. He argues that Electricity is vital to life and an important ingredient in the healing process of all life forms. Becker also gave warnings of electromagnetic pollution (radiation) that we are now experiencing with the mobile (cellular) phones and wireless technologies. This is now becoming of a great concern with increasing number of scientists and the health related issues.
Bioelectricity Reborn
The good news is that more scientists in the field of regeneration are now more sympathetic to research like Becker and how bio-electricity is an important part of the jigsaw in understanding human regeneration.
One such scientist is Michael Levin, whom is the director of Tufts University’s Center for Regeneration and Developmental Biology in Medford near Boston. He believes that bioelectricity will help us find important clues in understanding the regeneration process and he feels that limb regeneration will happen in our lifetimes.
Levin’s research is perhaps little known in the wider community may be due to the fact that most pioneers in regeneration feel that the answers are in genetics and stem cells. Of course such research has led to amazing discoveries and achievements already. Including wind pipes, new bladders, regrowing of finger digits and soon trials will be underway for blood regeneration based on patient’s stem cells.
The later being a powerful solution to blood donor shortages. Plus let us not forget that eventually a patient can have a new organ replacement such as a kidneys regrown in the lab based on the patient’s own stem cells.
Is this all a pipe dream? But why?
- If tadpoles can regrow lost tails;
- If a decapitated flatworm can regrow a new head;
- A lizard can escape its predator by shedding its tail;
- If the axolotl Mexican salamander can regenerate everything from regrowing new limbs, its spinal cord, and even parts of its brain, all without any evidence of scarring.
Humans do have some regenerative abilities also. For example, young children whom have a slice of their finger tip lost, that finger tip will grow back. This ability in children starts to disappear around the age of 12 and beyond. Medical intervention would be required for adults and now developments with extracellular matrix technologies can now stimulate partial or full regrowth in an adult if the tip of the finger is lost.
However, regenerating a small body part is one thing, but if you want to regrow back a whole lost limb? Perhaps there is a way to regenerate damaged retinal tissues. Or regrow an entire eye?
Well my friends there is a good news on the horizon! Scientists like Michael Levin feel this is where we are heading and does not think this is just science fiction and outlandish fantasy. In fact Levin reflects he may be on the verge of a breakthrough to do just that.
He proposes that the key to regeneration, in helping to unlock the hidden codes, is to be found in the electrical signals that are transmitted among our cells. This is very much like a computer matrix program or a sequencing of binary codes of 1s and 0s stored on a computer hard drive.
In manipulating these signalling pathways he has been able to produce results of four-headed flatworms. Continuing with experiments down the line he could make regeneration in humans a reality.
The Electrical Web Of LifeMichael Liven whom is a Russian scientist born in Moscow, heavily researched Dr Robert O. Becker’s work The Electric Body in his early days and traced down all the papers and findings that the book referenced and documented. The end result was an extensive bibliography study into bioelectricity allowing Levin to have a solid background of the methods and ideas proposed by the handful of open minded scientists that continued this field of study in the 1970s and 80s.
It is strange that electricity has been so badly neglected, because it is the essence of life. You will find it everywhere in our bodies, with ions flowing in and out of our cells. You will see electrical pulses flowing down our nerves. The truth is we are walking talking electric circuit boards.
The significance of electricity is well acknowledged when it comes to our nervous system and the heart processes. However, many scientists still today see this body of research as Frankenstein mind set.
For bioelectricity to be seriously revived into the mainstream (and it is heading there now) would require those whom have a vision and forward thinking, not concerned how their passions would appear to others in their field. In other words, taking a few risks, stick out of the box and not follow convention!
Research at the Levin LabAt the department of biology in the Levin Lab where Michael Levin and his team, at the Tufts University, we will explore some of their observations in limb regeneration.
Regrowing Body Parts
There are a number of species that can regrow lost limbs, such as the Mexican Axolotl and the lizard can shed its tail when being attacked by a predator. When this happens and it escapes the lizard will regrow its tail again.
Insects like cockroaches, have the remarkable ability to regenerate their legs just like the starfish and lobsters. The Zebrafish can regrow their fins if lost and they can also regenerate their hearts. A deer will regrow its antlers with large amounts of bone, nerve and skin each year.
Regenerating The Same As The Lost Part
Species that can master regeneration do not always regrow with perfection. The salamander is the jewel in the crown that can always regrow a limb with complete perfection every time.
The tadpole however, can regenerate their tails well but with a few missing nerve types. The ultimate heroes that gives the Newt and the Axolotl a serious run for their money in the regeneration competition of perfection would be the Planaria Flatworm.
Scientists have studied them and they can regenerate with complete perfection, they can regrow any part of the body including their head. In a recent article I wrote up about the weird world of the planarian worm, they can regrow their heads while still retaining their memories prior to decapitation!
Regrowing Legs in Young Frogs
Several years ago the Levin Lab were studying the bioelectrical signals that change in the distribution of the cellular resting potentials within a tissue or organ, which allows young tadpoles to regenerate their tails.
The team discovered that two essential components on the surface of the cells at the wound were required to configure a bioelectric state, stimulating regeneration.
A Proton Pump, this pumps hydrogen ions out of the cell surface. A specific Sodium Channel, that allows sodium ions to flow across the cellular membrane.
This bioelectrical state was an important part of the process to allow cells to multiply up to a point where it was enough to rebuild the structure. Along with allowing genes that are important for the regeneration process to be enabled. Allowing the nerves to develop down the correct path of the new growth.
Limb Regeneration in Older Frogs
The work that Levin’s team is doing is to initiate a ‘leg building module.’ Over the past 10 years their research has shown that such modules are encoded in a matrix of cellular resting potentials over the body’s tissues. It is this pattern that holds and determines the encoded data of which organs and tissues are made and their location.
The team first used gene therapy to allow a proton pump build from yeast, which would trigger the regeneration bioelectric state in older tadpoles. Older tadpoles cannot normally regrow their tails. So this method forced the regrowth of tails, complete with the spinal cord.
A medical cocktail of drugs was created that stimulated the same state with gene therapy. Now when they gave the same set of drugs to froglets, they got fascinating results, with the regrowth of hind legs.
Can this be Applied to Humans?
According to Michael Levin’s research the answer is yes. However, there are a number of factors surrounding this research that needed to be addressed and understood first.
Similar animals along with humans share most cellular biology pathways. This includes the pattern formation mechanisms, which is the basic step by step processes, required to regenerate complex body parts such as the heart.
Dubua-ReymonThe most fundamental and essential mechanisms of bioelectricity is likely to be similar to.
It was back in 1843 when the physiologist Emil du Bois-Reymondfirst used a galvanometer to measure currents in human skin and wounds. Since then they have been used for hundreds of experiments on animals by scientists.
Levin’s team points out that these currents play an important role in healing.
In important collaboration work with other scientists that Dr. Levin works with at Tufts University. It was discovered that the resting potentials across the cell’s surface can control how they can differentiate into other types of cells.
However, the real power of this approach is not in how single cells are controlled, but an insight into how bioelectric communications among large groupings of cells, are directing the growth of complex structures.
What is needed for Humans Regrowing Lost Limbs?
There are two things needed.
- Hacking the bioelectric matrix binary code, which will allow scientists to understand the mapping of bioelectrical patterns into the development of specific organs. The goal is now to figure out these patterns that are encoded with the instructions of ‘making a limb’ signals.
- A potential delivery vehicle is needed that will impose the right bioelectric states on the cells in the wound or injury. So the road map ahead, that would eventually allow regrowing of lost limbs in humans is to figure out the correct signaling and then imposing the right delivery vehicle.
In perfecting the signaling then that should someday allow this to be used in serious limb injuries, likely starting with regrowing fingers, toes, hands and feet.
Other Scientists Working In This AreaThere are very few scientists working in this area of bioelectrical research for human regeneration but this will likely change. One particular group of scientists in Scotland have been working with bioelectrical systems in limb regeneration research.
Dr Ann Rajnicek at Aberdeen University points out that the importance of the role of electricity of regeneration and tissue repair has been greatly overlooked by researchers. She and her team have been demonstrating the effects electricity has with flatworms.
She also points out that if you try to sell the idea of the importance of electricity for research into regeneration then you get a cool response from funding agencies.
Most of the those approval organizations providing the funding, want to stay away from bioelectricity in fear of “pseudo” science and feel the answers lay in biochemical mechanisms.
US Military Focusing On Humans Regrowing Limbs Like Salamanders
Military medical scientists are looking at research in humans regrowing limbs to becoming a reality. Researchers are working on how salamanders regrow their limbs and reverse engineer that in wounded soldiers whom have suffered limb loss in the battle field.
As mentioned elsewhere on this website, such a medical breakthrough would transform amputees with new novel treatments that would make prosthetics obsolete.
In the period of 2001 to 2016, the war on terrorism has left over 1650 troops as amputees. There are 2 million people suffering from limb loss in the U.S. based on information from the amputee coalition of America. Also globally there is over an annual occurring million amputations world wide.
Think Out Of The Box…
What if you can regrow a lost limb or organ? Or regenerate one that has been damaged? Such a medical discovery would be one of the most mind blowing scientific achievements ever to be reveal. It would benefit millions of people world wide, the great news is that the military are taking the lead on this kind of research.
The U.S. Military is aiming to find a solution for the regular limb loss that happens to military service men and women, where roadside bombs and terrorist atrocities makes horrific damage to limbs a frequent occurrence.
Salamander Axolotl
HealerOne area of scientific research that the military are focusing on is how salamanders are able to regrow their limbs. Also how they are able to do it with such perfection that there is not trace of injury or scaring after the healing. No matter how often the salamander (Axolotl) losses a limb it still regenerates the limb perfectly.
Axolotls (which means sea monster) native to Mexico are able to regenerate almost all of their body parts, including their spine and even parts of their brain.
Advance prosthetics have helped the wounded recover their independence and continue with their lives compared to those whom have suffered limb loss in the past who have not had access to such advancements in technologies.
However, these technologies no matter how advance are never going to be able to provide the real thing and put back how things were before.
But the advancements in regenerative science and stem cell research, allows us to enter a whole new ball game and explore things that were not possible under conventional medicine.
If you want the synopsis in 27 words or less. The Military Medicine is figuring out how the Axolotl Salamander are able to regrow limbs and apply that to the injured troops who have lost their limbs.
Studies have shown how salamanders can regenerate everything from muscle, bone to blood vessels with the stem cells that form at the injured site. Research has also concluded that species like the zebrafish, salamanders and bichir share the same 10 micro RNA, which is small aspects of genetic ‘software’.
In 2015 I wrote this article about Salamander Regeneration, on other areas of research looking at cells known as Macrophages that are key for regeneration abilities.
U.S. Army and Limb Regeneration
The U.S. Military published this article last month in the Defence Health Agency (DEA), the official website of the Medical Health System.
Army Lt. Col. David Saunders, who is a limb repair product manager for the U.S. Army Medical Material Development Activity, mentions that they are trying to develop ‘a toolkit’ for physical trauma and reconstructive physicians. Evolving from various regenerative medicine endeavours, as they emerge to improve long lasting outcomes for function of injured limbs.
This was mentioned at the recent Military Health System research symposium.
At this Health Research Symposium that was held in Florida, the leading researchers and scientists discussed limb regeneration or ‘extremity regeneration’. In particular the use of such technologies like synthetic grafts which will kick start the healing process for soldiers by regenerating tissue.
However, it does not stop there.
Stephanie Shiels whom works for the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, is wanting to push the boundaries of possibility even further with regrowing bones. Along with developing a ‘synthetic bone gap filler’, that will have the aim of reducing infections via placing antimicrobial components in the grafts.
Skin Regeneration
While Human Limb Regeneration is their ultimate goal and the Holy Grail, the Army is also looking and researching deeply into skin regeneration. This is a major problem both for civilians and soldiers.
Civilians and Military people caught up in combat and terrorism, suffer from large surface cuts and burns. These result in not just medical and emotional scars but also cosmetically.
These impact and effect the patient deeply.
So having the ability to have effective treatments developed would have an enormous impact not just on the body’s health but also on the spiritual well being of the person as well.
African Spiny Mouse, which have powerful regenerative abilities. They can regenerate skin that is scar-free.
This is even the case if they lose large amounts of skin in an attack.
The military scientists feel if they can determine how the Spiny Mouse regenerates its own skin then perhaps this can be applied to humans.
Offering new novel treatments whom have suffered from horrific and disfiguring burns.
ConclusionThe U.S. Military and DARPA have been doing extensive research with Regenerative Medicine.
In 2008 they launched their own Regenerative Medicine Institute known as AFIRM. This stands for The Armed Forces Institute Of Regenerative Medicine which you can read in the link provided.
It is likely that this research discussed in this article and AFIRM are connected across different institutions and academia. However, it is interesting that a new area of the Military in Health Research is looking deeply on how they can come up with new radical treatments for growing back lost limbs for the patient.
Military medical scientists are looking at research in humans regrowing limbs to becoming a reality. Researchers are working on how salamanders regrow their limbs and reverse engineer that in wounded soldiers whom have suffered limb loss in the battle field.
As mentioned elsewhere on this website, such a medical breakthrough would transform amputees with new novel treatments that would make prosthetics obsolete.
In the period of 2001 to 2016, the war on terrorism has left over 1650 troops as amputees. There are 2 million people suffering from limb loss in the U.S. based on information from the amputee coalition of America. Also globally there is over an annual occurring million amputations world wide.
Think Out Of The Box…
What if you can regrow a lost limb or organ? Or regenerate one that has been damaged? Such a medical discovery would be one of the most mind blowing scientific achievements ever to be reveal. It would benefit millions of people world wide, the great news is that the military are taking the lead on this kind of research.
The U.S. Military is aiming to find a solution for the regular limb loss that happens to military service men and women, where roadside bombs and terrorist atrocities makes horrific damage to limbs a frequent occurrence.
Salamander Axolotl
HealerOne area of scientific research that the military are focusing on is how salamanders are able to regrow their limbs. Also how they are able to do it with such perfection that there is not trace of injury or scaring after the healing. No matter how often the salamander (Axolotl) losses a limb it still regenerates the limb perfectly.
Axolotls (which means sea monster) native to Mexico are able to regenerate almost all of their body parts, including their spine and even parts of their brain.
Advance prosthetics have helped the wounded recover their independence and continue with their lives compared to those whom have suffered limb loss in the past who have not had access to such advancements in technologies.
However, these technologies no matter how advance are never going to be able to provide the real thing and put back how things were before.
But the advancements in regenerative science and stem cell research, allows us to enter a whole new ball game and explore things that were not possible under conventional medicine.
If you want the synopsis in 27 words or less. The Military Medicine is figuring out how the Axolotl Salamander are able to regrow limbs and apply that to the injured troops who have lost their limbs.
Studies have shown how salamanders can regenerate everything from muscle, bone to blood vessels with the stem cells that form at the injured site. Research has also concluded that species like the zebrafish, salamanders and bichir share the same 10 micro RNA, which is small aspects of genetic ‘software’.
In 2015 I wrote this article about Salamander Regeneration, on other areas of research looking at cells known as Macrophages that are key for regeneration abilities.
U.S. Army and Limb Regeneration
The U.S. Military published this article last month in the Defence Health Agency (DEA), the official website of the Medical Health System.
Army Lt. Col. David Saunders, who is a limb repair product manager for the U.S. Army Medical Material Development Activity, mentions that they are trying to develop ‘a toolkit’ for physical trauma and reconstructive physicians. Evolving from various regenerative medicine endeavours, as they emerge to improve long lasting outcomes for function of injured limbs.
This was mentioned at the recent Military Health System research symposium.
At this Health Research Symposium that was held in Florida, the leading researchers and scientists discussed limb regeneration or ‘extremity regeneration’. In particular the use of such technologies like synthetic grafts which will kick start the healing process for soldiers by regenerating tissue.
However, it does not stop there.
Stephanie Shiels whom works for the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, is wanting to push the boundaries of possibility even further with regrowing bones. Along with developing a ‘synthetic bone gap filler’, that will have the aim of reducing infections via placing antimicrobial components in the grafts.
Skin Regeneration
While Human Limb Regeneration is their ultimate goal and the Holy Grail, the Army is also looking and researching deeply into skin regeneration. This is a major problem both for civilians and soldiers.
Civilians and Military people caught up in combat and terrorism, suffer from large surface cuts and burns. These result in not just medical and emotional scars but also cosmetically.
These impact and effect the patient deeply.
So having the ability to have effective treatments developed would have an enormous impact not just on the body’s health but also on the spiritual well being of the person as well.
African Spiny Mouse, which have powerful regenerative abilities. They can regenerate skin that is scar-free.
This is even the case if they lose large amounts of skin in an attack.
The military scientists feel if they can determine how the Spiny Mouse regenerates its own skin then perhaps this can be applied to humans.
Offering new novel treatments whom have suffered from horrific and disfiguring burns.
ConclusionThe U.S. Military and DARPA have been doing extensive research with Regenerative Medicine.
In 2008 they launched their own Regenerative Medicine Institute known as AFIRM. This stands for The Armed Forces Institute Of Regenerative Medicine which you can read in the link provided.
It is likely that this research discussed in this article and AFIRM are connected across different institutions and academia. However, it is interesting that a new area of the Military in Health Research is looking deeply on how they can come up with new radical treatments for growing back lost limbs for the patient.