Scientists Are Inspired by Sea Squirts' Ability to Regenerate Body Parts
- 11 years ago
Scientists researching new and innovative medical advancements such as re-growing limbs are looking to creatures from marine world. Researchers found that the invertebrate sea squirts could regenerate their entire body from blood vessel fragments.
Scientists researching new and innovative medical advancements such as re-growing limbs are looking to creatures from marine world.
Researchers found that the invertebrate sea squirts could regenerate their entire body from blood vessel fragments.
Ayelet Voskoboynik of Stanford University's Stem Cell Institute said: “The whole body can regenerate from the vasculature alone, the heart, digestive system, sophisticated tissues. And it can do this relatively fast, probably using stem cells.”
Colonies of sea squirts are made up of thousands of genetically identical animals.
They are an invasive species in the United States that are known to destroy populations of native wildlife like crabs and oysters, while ruining boats and beaches.
Sea squirts are reportedly native to Europe, and probably came over on the hull of a boat that crossed the Atlantic.
In the 1940s they were found in San Francisco Bay, and now the species is known to live all the way up and down the west coast from British Columbia, Canada to Baja, California.
What do you think? Can sea squirts help scientists come up with a way to regenerate limbs on people?
Scientists researching new and innovative medical advancements such as re-growing limbs are looking to creatures from marine world.
Researchers found that the invertebrate sea squirts could regenerate their entire body from blood vessel fragments.
Ayelet Voskoboynik of Stanford University's Stem Cell Institute said: “The whole body can regenerate from the vasculature alone, the heart, digestive system, sophisticated tissues. And it can do this relatively fast, probably using stem cells.”
Colonies of sea squirts are made up of thousands of genetically identical animals.
They are an invasive species in the United States that are known to destroy populations of native wildlife like crabs and oysters, while ruining boats and beaches.
Sea squirts are reportedly native to Europe, and probably came over on the hull of a boat that crossed the Atlantic.
In the 1940s they were found in San Francisco Bay, and now the species is known to live all the way up and down the west coast from British Columbia, Canada to Baja, California.
What do you think? Can sea squirts help scientists come up with a way to regenerate limbs on people?