Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
The Pig's Role in Regenerative Medicine
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.
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You'd heard about this???
You'd heard about this??? I'm definitely going to have to look into it more. I still don't really understand how it works - the explanation was a bit superficial.
I'm currently having an affair with planaria. Their regenerative abilities are remarkable! My prof e-mailed the pixie dust link last night since it was related. Ahhh....but see, now I'm revealing too much of my geekiness.
Reasonably sure.
Yeah, I'm reasonably sure, 12 - 18 months ago (I guess). I read a *lot* of popular science reporting, so it could have been someplace like The Loom, or somewhere else on the Science Blogs/Seed site. Perhaps even someplace like Discover or PhysOrg. Sorry I can't be more specific than that.
But I do know that someone reported on this kind of ECM, and it was prior to the research done on heart-muscle growth using a different kind of scaffolding last year.
Jim Downey
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Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Heard About It
I have the same thing happen to me. My friend Carl Buell is an illustrator who does a lot of dinosaurs and extinct critters. Every time I see something in the popular news about "New Dinosaur Discovered!" I always think I'm going to get to spring something new on him. But it's always "I read about that on the paleontology wire a year and a half ago." And sometimes it's even "I'm already doing a painting of it for the guys who dug it up."
Pfft.
Yeah, popular press stuff is
Yeah, popular press stuff is a watered-down rerun of science literature. Which is why I don't usually read it. I usually try to catch the headlines, though, just to make sure I don't miss something. And I guess this is an example of something I've missed. ;-) I'm glad it was pointed out to me. Its fascinating stuff.
Fascinating.
Thanks, iheart - I'd heard about this earlier, when it was still more in the speculative stage. Hadn't heard about practical applications.
Funny how it's science behind the magic, rather than the other way 'round, eh?
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.