Inducing regeneration
The Hindu
Is it possible to regrow a frog’s lost leg? Researchers have come a step closer to the goal of regenerative medicine by successfully triggering regrowth of a lost leg in a frog using a five-drug cockt
Researchers have come a step closer to the goal of regenerative medicine by successfully triggering regrowth of a lost leg in a frog using a five-drug cocktail contained in a silk protein gel and kept in place over the stump for a day. That brief treatment sets in motion an 18-month period of regrowth that restores a functional leg. The research was carried out by scientists at Tufts University and Harvard University's Wyss Institute (Science Advances).
The researchers triggered the regenerative process in African clawed frogs by enclosing the wound in a silicone cap, which they call a BioDome, containing a silk protein gel loaded with the five-drug cocktail.
Each drug fulfilled a different purpose.. The combination and the bioreactor provided a local environment and signals that tipped the scales away from the natural tendency to close off the stump, and toward the regenerative process, according to a press release from Tufts University.