Regeneration

Watch a crab climb out of its old shell like a mutant

Crabs are red alien water tarantulas who regenerate like mutants. Just look at this crab literally climb out of its old shell and toss away that used exoskeleton like it’s a dirty pair of pants. So gross but so cool. I kind of wish I could shed skin like this. It’d probably be the most…

Sploid Casey Chan Nov 21

Decapitated worms regrow their heads with old memories intact

It’s hard to let go of some memories, even if your head has been chopped off. Well, at least if you’re a flatworm. When these tiny critters are decapitated, their heads and brain eventually grow back. But more remarkable than that, so too do their previous memories. Scientist who study planarian flatworms have known for…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 11

Could this be the secret to limb regrowth in humans?

Cut off part of an amphibian, and it’ll regrow. But humans and other mammals can only regrew the very tips of our fingers and toes, if they’re cut off. But the mechanism that makes that small feat happen could be the key to unlocking the secret of full limb regeneration in humans. How come we…

io9 Joseph Bennington-Castro Jun 13

Scientists Revive 400 Year-Old Frozen Plants

Frozen mosses that were buried under glaciers 400 years ago have now been regrown. Surprisingly, the hardy “bryophytes” required no special techniques to regenerate. That means they might be candidates for colonizing extreme environments — even in space. During the Little Ice Age, which occured between the 16th and 19th centuries, massive glaciers moved in…

io9 Joseph Bennington-Castro May 27

Could mammal bladders lead to amphibian-like organ regeneration in humans?

A couple of years ago, scientists working at Wake Forest Baptist confirmed that mammalian bladders are capable of a rather unique trick. Unlike other organs, the bladder can completely regenerate itself after experiencing significant tissue loss. In fact, studies on rats showed that a bladder with as much as 75% of its mass removed could…

io9 George Dvorsky Oct 15

Could controlling oxygen help us regenerate bones?

Let’s face it, humans aren’t too good at the whole “regenerating limbs” thing. In fact, the only way we can regrow bones is if we only lose the tip of one of our fingers or toes. But what makes that loss different to any other part of the body? Research being presented at the American…

io9 Tim Barribeau Apr 27

These immortal flatworms regenerate like real-life Time Lords

We know there are a few species that don’t die of old age, like the giant tortoise and naked mole rat. But those species aren’t truly immortal — as they still eventually die. These tiny worms might be a different story… one which could have major implications for humans trying to live longer. Negligible senescence…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Feb 28

Zebrafish reveal all the ingredients needed to regenerate a limb

The cool trick about stem cells is that they’re super adaptable, and can become any other sort of cell, right? So why not use a mass of stem cells to regenerate a limb? Or grow an extra one? Well, it looks like it’s all a bit more complicated than that. According to new research on…

io9 Tim Barribeau May 20

Worm regenerates a whole new body from a single cell

One cell is all it takes to rebuild a complete, functioning flatworm, researchers have learned. The animals possess a special type of cell throughout their bodies, which shares some qualities with human embryonic stem cells. If scientists can find out how this special cell works, they could someday study ways to use the cells for…

io9 Rebecca Boyle - Popular Science May 14

So you’ve chopped off your hand…now what?

Imagine that you’re working on a home improvement project and, being a bit of a klutz, something goes wrong: a slip of the saw and you’ve lost a finger. Is there any hope of regaining your lost digit? While there young children reportedly have the ability to regrow amputated fingertips, in adults it’s possible with…

io9 Peggy Kolm -- Science In My Fiction Jan 30

Lab-engineered liver cells are the first step to growing replacement livers

In an important breakthrough for regenerative medicine, cells have been grown from human livers that function exactly like regular livers in a laboratory environment. It’s in early stages, but this could be a huge step towards solving the transplant shortage. Like pretty much all organ transplants, there are never even close to enough replacement livers…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Oct 31

Sodium ions could one day let you grow a new hand

A new cocktail that allows sodium ions to pour into cells makes tadpoles grow new tails. A similar one could be used to regenerate human spinal cords and lost limbs. It’s clearly possible to grow muscle tissue, nerves, and organs. We all did it once. We should be able to do it again. For some…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Sep 29

Ranking The Regenerations Of Doctor Who

David Tennant’s swansong on Doctor Who, “The End of Time”, airs today in the UK and tomorrow night on BBC America. But how will the Tenth Doctor’s finale — and his big regeneration — compare with those that came before? There are really two ways in which to evaluate a Doctor’s final story. First, you…

Television Alasdair Wilkins Jan 1

Mastectomy Patients Could Soon Regrow Their Own Breasts

Implants could soon be a thing of the past. Researchers have developed a new technique to regrow breasts on pigs using their own tissue — and it’s ready to be tested on human mastectomy patients. Phillip Marzella from the Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery is part of the team that developed Neopec, the new stem…

io9 Lauren Davis Nov 12

Artificial Penis Takes a Bunny Hop Forward

If there’s one thing a rabbit needs, it’s well-functioning genitalia. Scientists have successfully regrown rabbits’ damaged penises, letting these rabbits do what rabbits do best. And their research could have important implications for generating human tissues as well. In the new issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team from Wake Forest…

io9 Lauren Davis Nov 9

Three New Medical Technologies That Could Save Your Life

Three new therapies that might make their way to hospitals soon show impressive possibilities for changing the way you heal, using lasers and nanotechnology, as well as synthetic skin and superhealing nerve cells. Nanoboxes Researchers at Washington University in St Louis have developed tiny gold cubes called nanoboxes which could deliver drugs to precisely targeted…

io9 Tim Barribeau Nov 5

Man’s Skull Grows Back After 50 Years

Fifty years ago, Gordon Moore lost part of his skull in a car accident. This week, his doctors were surprised when they removed his metal plate to find his skull completely intact, a rare example of adult bone regeneration. [BBC]

io9 Lauren Davis Oct 7

Are We Getting More Of David Tennant’s Doctor Than We Bargained For?

There are only three episodes of Doctor Who featuring David Tennant‘s version of the time-traveling weirdo yet to appear… but new reports suggest that those won’t be the only doses of Tennant’s Doctor we’ll get. Tennant already filmed a scene, from his final episode, where he says goodbye to 1970s traveling companion Sarah Jane Smith…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders May 6

Doctor Who’s Tin Dog Learns A New Trick From His Master

Doctor Who‘s time-traveler, The Doctor, may be the last of his kind… but he’s not the only one who can regenerate. K-9, the Doctor’s metal dog, will follow suit in his new show. The show, now filming in Australia, has released a ton of new information about this new version of K-9. Including an explanation…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Mar 13

New Doctor Who Actor Named Tomorrow

According to news reports, we’ll finally learn who’s stepping into the dapper threads of David Tennant as the star of the BBC’s time-traveling action-soap-dramedy Doctor Who tomorrow. Whoever it is will take over early in 2010, after the last of the four one-off specials Tennant is starring in. So today is your last chance for…

Television Charlie Jane Anders Jan 2

Watch a crab climb out of its old shell like a mutant

Decapitated worms regrow their heads with old memories intact

Could this be the secret to limb regrowth in humans?

Scientists Revive 400 Year-Old Frozen Plants

Could mammal bladders lead to amphibian-like organ regeneration in humans?

Could controlling oxygen help us regenerate bones?

These immortal flatworms regenerate like real-life Time Lords

Zebrafish reveal all the ingredients needed to regenerate a limb

Worm regenerates a whole new body from a single cell

So you’ve chopped off your hand…now what?

Lab-engineered liver cells are the first step to growing replacement livers

Sodium ions could one day let you grow a new hand

Ranking The Regenerations Of Doctor Who

Mastectomy Patients Could Soon Regrow Their Own Breasts

Artificial Penis Takes a Bunny Hop Forward

Three New Medical Technologies That Could Save Your Life

Man’s Skull Grows Back After 50 Years

Are We Getting More Of David Tennant’s Doctor Than We Bargained For?

Doctor Who’s Tin Dog Learns A New Trick From His Master

New Doctor Who Actor Named Tomorrow

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