If only humans could master regeneration. It seems like that would open the door to far better health. Maybe to longer life too. We can see how many other creatures innately can regenerate organs.
I can see it in the lizards that run around in my garden. Every now and then I see one with a stubby tail with a bit of new tail growing out the end. Maybe a raccoon got it by the tail and nearly made a meal of it, the tail popped off, and a new tail started growing there. If a bird eats a lizard’s entire foot, it can regrow a version of a new one. Some species can regrow most of their body from just a fragment that remains.
We humans can’t do that at all. The best regenerative organ we have may be the liver but not much else if you’re talking about replacing a large part of a lost organ. Our ability to maintain (and in a sense regenerate) tissues that turn over rapidly like gut, blood, and skin suggests the programming is still there and maybe could be directed in a new way.
Part of the reason for our highly limited regeneration may be that we have evolved a trade-off in a lower risk of cancer. Even so, it makes sense to keep trying to get better at regeneration including through research and everyday things. As to the latter, some folks will try almost anything on this front from supplements to fasting. However, that link between regeneration and cancer keeps popping up.
We’ll start there.
Regeneration is tricky for people, animals have many strategies
- The surprising cause of fasting’s regenerative powers, Nature. Fasting can potentially boost regeneration but also promote cancer. Here’s the article subtitle: “Post-fast feasting helps to activate stem cells in the gut but can also prompt development of precancerous growths, mouse research shows.” Does this happen in people too? There has been some evidence that fasting alone might boost levels of some types of stem cells too.
- Hallmarks of regeneration, Cell Stem Cell. The abstract is notable for using the word “heroic” to describe regeneration: “Regeneration is a heroic biological process that restores tissue architecture and function in the face of day-to-day cell loss or the aftershock of injury. Capacities and mechanisms for regeneration can vary widely among species, organs, and injury contexts. Here, we describe “hallmarks” of regeneration found in diverse settings of the animal kingdom, including activation of a cell source, initiation of regenerative programs in the source, interplay with supporting cell types, and control of tissue size and function. We discuss these hallmarks with an eye toward major challenges and applications of regenerative biology.” One of the more interesting aspects of this view is the point that different species sometimes use quite distinct mechanisms for regeneration. I always thought it was said that we humans cannot form blastema, the structures that appear necessary for limb regeneration.
Leonard Hayflick dies
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- Source: https://ipscell.com/2024/08/recommended-reads-regeneration-by-fasting-cancer-times-kid-of-the-year-hayflick-death/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=recommended-reads-regeneration-by-fasting-cancer-times-kid-of-the-year-hayflick-death