© Washington State University
An image of a regenerating skin wound with hair follicles that can make goose bumps. The green lines are the muscles attached to individual regenerating hairs so that they can stand up.
Pullman, Wash. -
A newly identified genetic factor allows adult skin to repair itself like the skin of a newborn babe. The discovery by Washington State University researchers has implications for better skin wound treatment as well as preventing some of the aging process in skin.
In a study, published in the
journal eLife on Sept. 29, the researchers identified a factor that acts like a molecular switch in the skin of baby mice that controls the formation of hair follicles as they develop during the first week of life. The switch is mostly turned off after skin forms and remains off in adult tissue. When it was activated in specialized cells in adult mice, their skin was able to heal wounds without scarring. The reformed skin even included fur and could make goose bumps, an ability that is lost in adult human scars.
"We were able to take the innate ability of young, neonatal skin to regenerate and transfer that ability to old skin," said Ryan Driskell, an assistant professor in WSU's School of Molecular Biosciences. "We have shown in principle that this kind of regeneration is possible."
Mammals are not known for their regenerative abilities compared to other organisms, such as salamanders that can regrow entire limbs and regenerate their skin. The WSU study suggests that the secret to human regeneration might be found by studying our own early development.
"We can still look to other organisms for inspiration, but we can also learn about regeneration by looking at ourselves," said Driskell. "We do generate new tissue, once in our life, as we are growing."
Comment: No, dear author, it is not just our imagination that the close calls with asteroids and other near-earth objects are increasing in frequency.
And here is why we think they are - from Sott.net in 2007: