Scientists Dive Into Axolotl Genome, Looking For Secrets To Regeneration (gizmodo.com)
- Reference: 0144856858
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/21/04/09/233215/scientists-dive-into-axolotl-genome-looking-for-secrets-to-regeneration
- Source link: https://gizmodo.com/geneticists-get-closer-to-a-complete-axolotl-genome-1846651148
> Its adorableness aside, the Mexican axolotl is a salamander of particular interest to scientists. On the molecular level, the animal seems to have a cheat code for life: It can regenerate its limbs and vital organs, an ability researchers are desperate to better understand for medical applications. Now, geneticists have gotten a clearer view of the smiling salamander's genome, [1]rendering it on the chromosomal scale . The research was [2]published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Understanding a genetic structure in complete detail takes a lot of time, far longer than it takes to first report the mapping of a genome, as we did with humans in 2003 and the duck-billed platypus in 2008. Secrets remain shrouded in those purportedly finished genetic codes, so geneticists keep tinkering. Decrypting the axolotl's genome in particular was a tall order; where bits of a human genome charged with making a protein may span hundreds to thousands of base pairs, in an axolotl, it takes hundreds of thousands of base pairs. Nevertheless, the complete axolotl genome was announced in 2019 by the same team who published the recent research.
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> The recent paper specifically looked at how the genome is folded away inside the animal on the molecular level and where the DNA sequences that regulate genes are located in relation to the places where gene transcription starts. That's remarkable when you consider the scale and extreme compactness of the folding; a human DNA strand is about 6 feet when stretched out, but an axolotl's would be over 30 feet. All that genetic material is being sequestered in the cells of an animal 200 times smaller than the average human -- it's a mind-boggling example of efficiency in packing, all on a microscopic scale.
Why it matters: The research will be important for seeing if the ability to regenerate could ever be activated in humans.
"The work has ordered the sequenced pieces of axolotl genomic DNA sequence in the correct order, as it is on the chromosome," Elly Tanaka, a biochemist at the Vienna BioCenter's Institute of Molecular Pathology, said in an email. "This is important because, in all animals with vertebrae, genes are turned on and off by control sequences that are actually lying pretty far away from the gene itself."
[1] https://gizmodo.com/geneticists-get-closer-to-a-complete-axolotl-genome-1846651148
[2] https://www.pnas.org/content/118/15/e2017176118.short?rss=1
Finally! (Score:3)
We’re one step closer to [1]filling out Spider-Man’s rogues gallery in real life [wikipedia.org].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizard_(comics)
Here come the Axolotl tanks! (Score:2)
For those of a sandy persuasion.
If humans, or even mice, can use the same process (Score:2)
If humans, or even mice, can use the same process as the axolotl, then I'd be really surprised.
Just for example, axolotls and their relatives and fish can regrow lost teeth. IIUC, fish do it with a modification of the way they regrow scales. Mammals lost that a long time ago in the process of developing several different shapes of teeth for different purposes. So *IF* you could transplant the axolotl mechanism for tooth regrowing into people, the shape of the teeth would be a simple sharp cone, possibly
Re: If humans, or even mice, can use the same proc (Score:2)
This could spell doom for gender reassignment surgery. Lop something off and it just grows back.
Anus (Score:2)
Really hope they speed this research up. I need to grow a new anus.
Re: (Score:2)
I want my penis cut off and doubled to at least 6 inches.
Regeneration through electricity (Score:2)
I remember reading about [1]this former computer programmer [popsci.com] in "Popular Science" magazine. He had read some book in his youth about electricity and the body, and is now growing new limbs out of frogs in a lab at Harvard.
[1] https://www.popsci.com/body-electrician-whos-rewiring-bodies/
Understanding the Axolotl is 5 years away... (Score:3)
I've been reading about the Axolotl and how it's been studied to see if it's regenerative capabilities could be applied to humans for literally decades - doing a quick search, I found a reference to these studies going back to 1976: [1]https://books.google.ca/books?... [google.ca]
Like fusion or ascendancy of the Linux desktop, understanding the Axolotl is 5 years away and always has been.
it's disappointing because I always wanted to heal after an accident or epic battle against my nemesis like Wolverine.
[1] https://books.google.ca/books?id=MxRr_rlzmvcC&pg=PA5199&lpg=PA5199&dq=axolotl+organ+regeneration+study+history&source=bl&ots=-yLfr2ZxgB&sig=ACfU3U3-a3ADYR2_TyFYaYyBMkZxF0bI4Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi5ocLC3_PvAhWNPM0KHVNVDxA4WhDoATACegQIAhAD#v=onepage&q=axolotl%20organ%20regeneration%20study%20history&f=false
Re: (Score:3)
Somehow though, recharging my flying car with fusion energy while typing on my linux desktop using my lizard regenerated hands doesn't seem as far fetched as it would have been five years ago.