Transcription
Scientists just discovered that our bodies have the same gene that axolotls have, which makes them regrow their own limbs. But here's the thing, this gene is turned off, but scientists figured out how to turn it back on.
So, for those that don't know, the axolotl is a salamander from Mexico, which has superpowers that no other animal has. It's able to regrow its own limbs perfectly. So, if it lost a leg, it can just grow it back, and everything will be there, the bones, the skin, the nerves, and it can even do this with parts of its organs, like the heart and even the brain.
So, for decades, scientists thought that this ability was only something that's unique to salamanders, but then something changed. So, recently, scientists started studying the genes that are involved in this process, and they found that these are called the SP genes. And they found that these exact genes also exist in humans. It's inside our DNA.
So, they started running experiments, and they used gene editing to remove the specific gene from axolotls, which makes them regrow their own limbs. And without the SP8 gene, the axolotls couldn't regenerate properly. The bone regrowth failed completely. So, they knew that SP8 was critical to this process.
They then created a gene therapy, where they delivered this SP8 gene to mice. They used a virus to carry these genes directly to the mice's cells. So, here's what happened. The mice actually partially regenerated. It wasn't perfect, but lost tissue did grow back.
So, here's when they discovered the mind-blowing part. It's that humans also have these exact same SP genes. But the difference is, our genes are turned off after injury. And this happened because of evolution. It just decided to turn off our ability to regenerate. And this happened for reasons which they don't quite understand.
But because they were able to get these genes working in mice, they're moving on to human trials very soon. So, just imagine losing a limb might not mean a lifetime of prosthetic again. What would you think of this? Is this a good idea, or should we just not play with evolution? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments.