Scientists from the University of Kentucky have completely disassembled the genome of the Mexican axolotl and are now delighted to say that the new data could be useful in human medicine.
In particular, thanks to them, people will one day be able to regrow lost arms and legs.
Axolotls are unique creatures in themselves. Firstly, this amphibian is in fact only a larva or cub of a salamander, while it does not mature and knows how to reproduce in a similar state.
In order for the axolotl to mature and become a salamander, it must fall into conditions of lack of water, that is, into a drought. Only then will he begin to produce the necessary hormone in large quantities.
Secondly, axolotls have incredible regeneration and can easily regrow any lost paws or tail. It is this property of axolotls that has attracted scientists from all over the world to them for decades, and those who can understand the mechanism of their regeneration and reproduce it in humans will certainly get a Nobel Prize.
The Kentucky research team is only one step closer to this, but they say it is a very big step and even a breakthrough in science.
Axolotls can be pink or dark in color.
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Sequencing the genome of such a large creature as an axolotl is not an easy task, but scientists have managed to do it. Moreover, according to them, this is the first time in science when such a large genome has been disassembled.
Why humans can't grow limbs
People can grow some parts of organs and skin cells to some extent, but if we once had the possibility of much greater regeneration, we have long lost it with evolution.
Scientists have put forward several possible reasons for this.
Some blame the immune system for accidentally blocking the complete regeneration of the limbs by the scar tissue created during a swift attack to stop bleeding after injury.
On the other hand, the relatively large size of human bodies can make full recovery too energy intensive.
A limb replacement cannot be energetically cost effective when we can simply adapt to using nine fingers instead of ten, or one hand instead of two.
