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iheartmitochondria's blog

The Pig's Role in Regenerative Medicine

Submitted by iheartmitochondria on April 30, 2008 - 7:56pm.

Biology
News

A scientist at the University of Pittsburgh has found a way to regrow human fingers with the help of pig bladder. Apparently, the brother of one of the scientists working in the field of regenerative medicine chopped his finger off, and then received a gift of some magic powder he calls "pixie dust." He sprinkled it on his stump, and within days his finger grew back.

The "pixie dust" is really extracellular matrix, that is the dried out lining of the pig bladder. Apparently this ECM gives the human cells a scaffold to build onto to allow the body to regenerate.

Here's the link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7354458.stm

There's a video of the guy with the stump for a finger (WARNING: Its a bit gruesome.) and there's another video of the scientist explaining where the pixie dust comes from.