Scientists: bioelectric will allow to grow new limbs

03/27/2017

A scientist from Tafsa University (Tufts University), Mikhail Levin, argues that soon people will learn to grow new limbs for themselves in exchange for lost ones.

Such confidence was formed by a scientist as a result of a serious interest in bioelectric. The researcher has long been successfully “supplying” frogs and tadpoles with limbs, and soon plans to start working with warm-blooded animals, writes Rg.ru.

It is believed that the appearance of a living being is determined by genes. Many researchers are working in this promising direction. However, Michael was interested in a completely different way. Asking questions about how the organs “find out” where they grow, he began to study the embryos of the chickens. The researcher drew attention to the fact that electric impulses pass between the cells and suggested that they influence the direction in which the cellular structure develops. The scientist began to experiment with worms, lizards and frogs since 2000. He grew their paws, tails and even heads.

This was achieved by the fact that the researcher changed the charge of specific proteins and ion channels located on the cells, thereby achieving cell growth in a certain place. сутки работы и полгода ожидания. Growing a new tail took an hour of work and eight days of waiting, paws - a day of work and six months of waiting. Now Mikhail is busy preparing for experiments on warm-blooded animals.

Growing such limbs is much more difficult. They grow longer, can become infected during growth, there is a risk of bleeding, since warm-blooded blood pressure is higher. However, the researcher, together with his colleagues, is developing mechanisms that will help eliminate these problems. The scientist notes the promise of bioelectrics. He believes that this science is in its infancy. Later it can be used for different purposes, for example, to treat cancer, reversing the growth of cancer cells.

Valeria Sokolova, news editor