Glowing Salamaders

Today Nature magazine is publishing an article led by developmental biologist Elly Tanaka, (from the Center for Regenerative Therapies at the Dresden University of Technology), explaining the mechanics of salamander limb regeneration. Elly Tanaka genetically engineered an axolotl salamander with a green fluorescent protein in all cells of the body, which allowed her to visually trace the fate of cells during regeneration. Her discovery was quite startling and already the science blogging community is buzz with excitement.

Scientists have long observed the salamander's unique ability to regenerate not only limbs, but jaws, skin, and even parts of brain and spinal chord. Scientists originally theorized that regeneration occurs because cells at the amputation site lose their identities and turn back their developmental clocks and become "pluripotent" stem cells (capable of developing into many cell types in the body), which then recreate the lost limb.

This study explains that cells at the amputation site retain memories of their identities and regenerate to form the same type of tissue in the replacement limb. The concept of cellular memory is still wearily approached by scientists and researchers, but in the case of the salamander, it's what makes regeneration possible. It also means that instead of stem cells, the amputated cells simply reproduce more of themselves; muscles grow from muscles, and bones from bones.

Enjoy the science at:

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/45149/description/Salamanders_don%E2%80%99t_regrow_limbs_from_scratch

http://www.conncoll.edu/ccacad/zimmer/GFP-ww/cooluses24.html

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/07/01/a-new-clue-about-salamanders-amazing-regenerating-limbs/

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre55g50u-us-salamanders/

Straight From the Heart

Those geniuses from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute identified the earliest master human heart stem cell from human embryonic stem cells. This is particularly helpful in how congenital heart disease develops. Congenital heart disease is the most common heart defect in children all across the globe, and this new discovery will hopefully lead to new treatments and possibly a cure.
To find out more, go to http://www.physorg.com/news165680045.html

Quick, what does FMD stand for? Fetal Muscular Disorder? Fatal Medicine Diagnosis? Funny Monkey Day?
FMD is short for fibromuscular dysplasia. Ever hear of it? Probably not. Most people, even many doctors, are unfamiliar with the disease. Fibromuscular dysplasia is a disease where the artery walls expand, often cutting off blood flow and resulting in cardiac arrest, which is what happend to 10 year old Haley McWhorter. Doctors believe that FMD is a very rare disease, but new studies suggest that the disease is more common then once believed, possibly 3% to 5% of the population (about 10 million Americans.) Symptoms include "young patients with high blood pressure, or who have had a stroke or temporary symptoms of a stroke; patients whose blood makes a swishing sound indicating turbulent flow; or patients with brain aneurysms."
Learn more @ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124605981966763611.html