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Regenerative Power Grows Back A Man's Finger

cbsnews.com — Through use of a new regenerative powder, a man's severed finger is regrown. Incredible...

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  • KOfMyBasement, on 03/24/2008, -10/+292Now that's amazing
    • robotto, on 03/24/2008, -1/+20Next step is enhancing the tissue to allow superhuman feats.
      • robdiggity, on 03/24/2008, -0/+44FTA:

        A leading expert on the new treatment, Dr. Curt Connors, was quoted as saying, "Currssssssssse Ssssssspidermaaaan," as well as, "Hisssssssssssssss!"
      • ayeroxor, on 03/24/2008, -0/+14we just regrew a finger. It's going to take a while before it will allow feets.
        • chicken59, on 03/24/2008, -6/+14The real superhuman feat is how you managed to misspell feat when it's spelled correctly 1 post above you. Unless that was a pun. And now that I look back at your post, I realize it is and I'm an idiot. Whoooooosh.
          • pauldy, on 03/24/2008, -3/+5How do you know he wasn't speaking of actual feet? Seems logical to me that the move from a finger to a foot would be a bit more complex.
          • hypercrypt, on 03/24/2008, -5/+3Because feets isn't a word. The word is feet (plural) or foot (singular), never feets...
          • chicken59, on 03/25/2008, -0/+1@Pauldy
            If he was speaking of actual feet, then it would be a pun.
      • bigd063, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1Super Flick!
      • pr0t0, on 03/25/2008, -0/+1You mean like...the ability to regrow body parts?
    • saska, on 03/24/2008, -8/+13What's amazing is that this guy's brother used him as an unwitting human test subject. Seriously, wtf?

      P.S. article would have been better if it really was about a regenerative POWER and not a regenerative POWDER.
      • hexydes, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2Eh, worked for the Wright brothers (though to be fair, they both were involved in the design of their product).
    • diggcensors, on 03/24/2008, -17/+2I have serious doubts about this. Especially when the describe the magical substance as "extracellular matrix." Seriously wtf? That isn't a substance, that describes just about anything that cells can grow on.
      • Dakoman, on 03/24/2008, -1/+11the ECM (extracellular matrix) is made up of lots of different proteins that cells adhere to and consequently receive permissive signalling from. Its a scaffold, and definitely a substance.
        • diggcensors, on 03/24/2008, -2/+1I hope you realize the incredible variety of these types of substances.
          • Dakoman, on 03/29/2008, -0/+1Im an undergraduate in biochemistry, so yes.
      • norman619, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1I remember back in the 80's they were doing research into augmenting the healing ability of the human body by stimulating the injury with mild electric current. They documented the progress of a little girl who lost a fingertip. She actually grew back her finger tip as well. Never heard any more about that research. I wonder if this researcher had anything to do with that. Either way this is great news.
    • MotoFly, on 03/24/2008, -0/+10I lost the tip of my right ring finger when I was only 13 months old! I need to get ahold of this stuff!
      • SuperWinner, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1Will it still work if the wound is that old?
        • MotoFly, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3That is what I have been wondering. I don't see why it wouldn't though . Except they might have to re-sever it : (
          • colto, on 03/24/2008, -0/+9Well wouldn't that suck. How much of it are you missing? I can just see them coming up to your finger with a cigar cutter saying "This will only hurt for a few minutes..."
          • MotoFly, on 03/25/2008, -0/+1I am missing the top digit, so one less joint. Can they even regrow joints yet? There are still too many questions, I think it is going to take a while for this type of treatment to become widespread.
          • scb0825, on 03/25/2008, -3/+1Not sure if they can regrow joints, but they are able to smoke joints.
    • Bilabrin, on 03/24/2008, -1/+38Is there anything Torgo's Executive Powder can't do?
    • ophello, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2this is nothing short of revolutionary. The future is now!!
    • kleash, on 03/24/2008, -0/+5The heroes series didn't lie!
    • Kenelm, on 03/24/2008, -0/+20Just wait a few months and you'll get some spam for a penis growing powder.
    • reclusiveraider, on 03/24/2008, -0/+26it is, until someone transporting the powder "accidently" loses a barrel in the graveyard.
    • Bartboy919, on 03/24/2008, -0/+11The only problem is that he becomes The Lizard every once in a while.
    • jemka, on 03/24/2008, -6/+1This might help you make sense of things. http://digg.com/comedy/A_Religious_Conversation
      • jemka, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2Sorry, wrong story. Digg me down for failing.
    • kd1s, on 03/24/2008, -4/+1They are making some remarkable discoveries these days. We're on the cusp of eliminating the major medical threats to humans. The only issue I see with this is if people live longer, where do we put them, and how do we feed them. There has to be some cutoff age for death otherwise the whole equation is upset. But allow me to live a healthy 100 years and I'm all for it.
    • wijaya7, on 03/24/2008, -4/+2This will help for the guys in BME PAIN OLYMPIC!!
    • Elshender, on 03/24/2008, -0/+6So are you telling me that if I put this powder next to a Shakey's Pizza, I could create my own duplicate Shakey's!?
  • hiscity, on 03/24/2008, -137/+11Absolutely amazing!

    Couple of reactions: Sounds like it would be a wise idea to harvest "no longer needed" body parts from relatives to make the matrix powder. Also, Jesus may have restored limbs directly and even more rapidly using something similar. Something that his own flesh or blood generated!
    • trispear, on 03/24/2008, -42/+51Jesus is imaginary, like Santa, you dumb ox. Now go search for the original Ark or whatever you wackos do.
      • AntzNZ, on 03/24/2008, -21/+16No, it's a fact that he lived, and CLAIMED to be the son of god.
        • Murdats, on 03/24/2008, -10/+17its not a fact he lived. and anything flowing from the claim to the oppisite is thus also not a fact.
        • FTLJohnson, on 03/24/2008, -13/+22No, it's really not. In reality, the Jesus myth was based on Horus, or Dionysus, or Mithra, or and probably most accurately Isis. So every little detail that makes "Jesus" supposedly special... is really based on an older myth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUBqgucLXzk

          In fact, the real supposed spelling of the name isn't Jesus but Jeshua. (pronounced Yeh-hesh-oo-aa) from the original Hebrew - which was supposedly translated into a bastardized Greek spelling - Iesus.

          http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8302274574 ... (scroll to 7 min in and be enlightened)


        • KnightWhoSaysNi, on 03/24/2008, -8/+3That is debatable. The only fact is that we don't know for sure whether there was an actual Jesus or not.
          The evidence is pretty inconclusive.
        • republicker, on 03/24/2008, -18/+2Jesus existed on earth much the same as matter did before your big bang.
          • ChristaMaria, on 03/24/2008, -1/+3Say what?
          • ApokalypseNow, on 03/24/2008, -2/+15There was no "before the big bang" - you're aware of the relationship between time and space, ie. spacetime, right? At the moment of the big bang, the quark-gluon plasma that would eventually form all matter as we know it was contained in a volumeless point. Volumeless, as in no space, therefore no time. Without time, you cannot have a "before", as you cannot place a temporal constraint onto a frame of reference where that continuum does not exist.
          • Xchus, on 03/24/2008, -1/+0whooosh
        • AntzNZ, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2I thought it was a fact :/ Guess not.
      • Godlike, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2http://www.wetherobots.com/2007/12/19/an-atheist-d ...
      • tophu, on 03/24/2008, -0/+16Wait. What about Santa? Are you telling me that Santa is not real!?
        • johnnysaucepn, on 03/24/2008, -1/+22Of course he is. There is documented evidence that some people wrote that someone called St. Nicholas existed, and so therefore he must have kept reindeer and delivered toys across the world every year from the North Pole.
      • ThaDRD, on 03/24/2008, -2/+5Dugg for the phrase "dumb ox."
      • osiris24x, on 03/24/2008, -5/+2Jesus was a documented historical figure...there was nothing imaginary about him.

        Now walking on water and parting seas and being the son of god....THAT was imaginary.
    • thebusdriver, on 03/24/2008, -7/+47Wait, it made sense until Jesus regenerated body parts from his blood. Are you serious? Do you actually believe that some guy could do this with just his blood? He just pours it on and magically it grows back? Wow.
      • Murdats, on 03/24/2008, -4/+31didnt you know, jesus was always magically growing extra limbs here and there.
        • zengonzo, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1That explains the Papal Cross.
        • johnnysaucepn, on 03/24/2008, -0/+14Didn't I tell you baby? I'm Zaphod Beeblebrox!
          • ManOfVirtues, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3Do you want to see my spaceship?
        • MillionsLivio, on 03/24/2008, -1/+5He trys so hard to be like the FSM.
        • AndrewDB, on 03/24/2008, -1/+8Wait wait. If Jesus grew extra limbs here and there.. could that mean the Flying Spaghetti Monster .. could actually be Jesus?
      • Mikhail101, on 03/24/2008, -0/+4his blood serves as alcohol too. thats incredible.
    • bgrah449, on 03/24/2008, -2/+23I don't even remember any stories of Jesus restoring limbs. Healing the blind, sure; curing lepers, sure; even brought some dead guys back to life. When did he regrow limbs for the faithful? I'm drawing a blank.
      • blackbeardtron, on 03/24/2008, -0/+17Well, I know there's a part where Peter chops off a guy's ear and Jesus magics it back on.
        • Eiknujrac, on 03/24/2008, -1/+6Dugg for verbal usage of the word magic.
      • kingfelix, on 03/25/2008, -0/+1Luke 6:6-10
    • furbyboy, on 03/24/2008, -1/+22....you were doing well up to 'Jesus'
    • RedSaber, on 03/24/2008, -1/+6What happens with your logic if I happen to be buddhist, hindu, muslim, jew or else? Does it all fall apart? ... I think so.

      Don't mix up science and religion please. It never was a good idea to do so and it never will be.
    • kadath44, on 03/24/2008, -2/+3Jesus and the magical powder, good title for a comedy.
      • Cattywampus, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2I'm sure some studio exec in Hollywood is taking note.
        "Hmmm... Jesus and the magical powder ... high-concept dramedy with a spiritual angle. Greenlight immediately Shoot it single camera."
    • chicken59, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2Really?
    • alpha88, on 03/24/2008, -1/+3Jesus? Is that Carlos' brother or something? I didn't know Mexicans were so far ahead with medical science!

      But seriously. No. Shut up.
    • Mikhail101, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1Wow thats amazing, his blood serves as alcohol and his body serves as bread, the wonders of jesus.
    • LastSight, on 03/24/2008, -0/+7dude....never give a hint that you believe in Jesus......
      the digg community is filled with a bunch of smartass atheists
      (I'm a Buddhist)
      • coboman, on 03/25/2008, -1/+2Hey, believe in whatever you want. Just use reason and verifiable evidence to support your claims, and nobody will make fun of you.
    • coboman, on 03/25/2008, -0/+2Whenever science makes a new discovery, pseudoscience and religion find vindication for their unfounded beliefs.

      Religion is a scam! It always was. It never, ever has delivered on what it promises.
  • engameddotcom, on 03/24/2008, -27/+7wow...thats crazy...:D

    Made me kinda sick...
  • bossm4n, on 03/24/2008, -3/+156Saw this story this morning on CBS Sunday Morning and was absolutely amazed. In addition to this powder, they also showed a type of inkjet printer using a cell medium to essentially print various body parts. Some truly incredible breakthroughs are being made in this field.
    • consoneo, on 03/24/2008, -0/+49Fifth Element eh?
      • Ozymandias42, on 03/24/2008, -5/+3No, that was love. Or was it specifically that girl? Or was it some mysterious other thing that was contained within that girl, like essence of DNA?
        • StormTroopr, on 03/24/2008, -0/+10I think he is just talking about scene that the beginning where they reconstruct her body from the one hand.
      • lolcoderer, on 03/24/2008, -0/+5Multiiii Passss!
    • HydrogenOxide, on 03/24/2008, -1/+36The Inkjet cell printer was on the discovery channel documentary "2057" a couple months back. Soon, they will be able to make 3D printers than can "print" new hearts using stem cells that are custom made using the DNA of the patient with no rejection after it's implanted.
    • DarkSamus, on 03/24/2008, -3/+36a body parts printer is #1 on every digger's wish list
      • gquaglia, on 03/24/2008, -0/+36Only if I can print out a hot chick. But then again, she still probably wouldn't be interested.
        • directrix13, on 03/24/2008, -2/+8It sounds like you want one with only a brain stem.
        • jaalin, on 03/24/2008, -2/+1ROFL
        • fkr3, on 03/24/2008, -0/+15If she's not you toss her in the shredder and print a different one. :)
      • 0crabby0, on 03/24/2008, -0/+58Maybe the organ ink will be cheaper than regular ink?
        Because regular ink costs and arm and a leg...
        • hexydes, on 03/24/2008, -2/+14I am seeing what you were doing there.
          • Namco, on 03/24/2008, -11/+4I disapprove. That " I see what you did there" ***** is so played out.
          • artofwar420, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2HAR HAR.
          • Metman, on 03/24/2008, -2/+5"I disapprove. That " I see what you did there" ***** is so played out."
            Well I disapprove also "played out" is so ... well played out.
          • Namco, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2I see what you did there, Metman :D
      • voomfoo, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3"Has it always been that big?"
    • Phearce, on 03/24/2008, -0/+7The printer is mentioned in the article. Reminds me of the regeneration tank from The Fifth Element.
    • TTURabble, on 03/24/2008, -0/+76I bet the printer will only be $30, but the ink will be twice as much. And you know they never fill those cartages all the way up.
      • Pilot85, on 03/24/2008, -0/+15aw man, I'm missin a valve!
        • skyfox2k, on 03/24/2008, -0/+10After a while you start to notice your skin pigment on the regrowing arm is running out of melanin in patchy lines
    • azAZ09, on 03/24/2008, -0/+12Inkjet ?!? aw c'mon now! can you give a brother a break? Everybody knows the black cartridge always runs out first!
      • B3000, on 03/24/2008, -4/+2way to be racist, man.
        • azAZ09, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3How many years have ink jets been around? Every manufacturer knows black is the cartridge doing the most work and yet for most manufacturers it still is the one being changed out and discarded most often. They could give black a little more space on the printer carriage, a bigger cartridge slot. Everyone runs out of black first. Anyone who has owned an inkjet for more than five years knows what I'm talking about.
          Its just the manufacturer tryin' to keep a cartridge down.
          Look at the color scheme abbreviation: CMYK (C)yan, (M)agenta, (Y)ellow, Blac(K), K? What kind of back of the bus ***** is this? Couldn't use the first letter in Black?

          They invent a technology that can heal virtually anything, and I make a joke that pokes fun at race using printer economics, while showing this new tech. can disenfranchise people based on race, and I'M the racist?
          • B3000, on 03/25/2008, -0/+1I was just joking. Don't get your panties in a bunch.
      • DarkSamus, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2actually we will finish the ***** out of magenta first
    • futureisours, on 03/24/2008, -4/+1Body printer? Bad idea. You think the ink is expensive for normal ink jets, the costs for this thing would be astronomical and only the super rich could afford treatment.
    • mzaouar, on 03/24/2008, -0/+6HP is going to be rich !!
    • D0m0kun, on 03/24/2008, -0/+4SciAm article:

      http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=regrowing-huma ...
    • cloak419, on 03/24/2008, -1/+1How much in the ink?
    • Akraz, on 03/24/2008, -1/+3I WAS PRINTING MY TPS REPORT AND A GIANT BLACK ***** CAME OUT, *****!
    • baudbwoy, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1printing body parts....dangerous, and so "6th Element"
  • sjbdallas, on 03/24/2008, -3/+100You'd think he would have learned a lesson about putting his fingers near the propeller but of course, first thing he does is show how it happens....
    • solidcube, on 03/24/2008, -0/+40What does he have to worry about? If he cuts it off, Big Bro will just step in again with some more magic powder.
    • yahoofrom, on 03/24/2008, -0/+20"i can regrow it back."
      • arjie, on 03/24/2008, -0/+25Brought to you by the Department of Redundancy Department.
    • roosterjm2k2, on 03/24/2008, -0/+25Well, motor's off...duh! (just kidding... :) )

      I'm actually surprised that he did it from the back....most of that time, that just gives you a hell of a bruise...and there is no reason to be reaching that way in the first place... Old guys do this more than you think. It's not a matter of a "rookie mistake" to get your hand in a prop...actually, I've never seen a new pilot do it...you're too scared of that damned thing.

      Old guys get complacent around the prop...and then it happens.

      Last year I was working on getting a motor running right (it was a 4-stroke and new, and those are hard to get going for the first few tanks of fuel through them) and I had one of the older guys helping me (i was still relatively new). All of the adjustments you make are on the motor. You can't make the adjustments with the motor off because you listen to what the engine is doing as you adjust it to get it right. Well, we have the motor running good, one last little tweak... and he reaches right through the prop like it isnt there. Just a moment's lapse in thinking about what you're doing.

      What made it worse for me...is he had one of the hepatitis' (dont know if it was a or b) and he always told everyone about it so if something happened, we would know to be carefull around any blood...etc....well, the prop threw blood in my face...i somehow got my mouth and eyes closed...and kept them closed untill one of the guys come over to help him and seen me, and had someone run to get some alcohol and rub my face down, and I enjoyed getting tested for 6 months to make sure I was clean...

      moral of the story? Complacency is dangerous.
      • feoren, on 03/24/2008, -0/+14Seems to me like the moral of the story is "Keep your face away from old men with hepatitis who are screwing with live propellers."
        • Samsong, on 03/24/2008, -0/+12"Keep your face away from old men with hepatitis who are screwing ---- ---- ----------."
    • Ladymongoose, on 03/24/2008, -0/+8I thought it was funny how they said he was "propelled him into the future of medicine"...
  • Spoonicus, on 03/24/2008, -4/+92I'm sure when John Bobbit reads this he's going to say.. "now you tell me!"
    • Gudeldar, on 03/24/2008, -0/+13Not sure why he would need the power, he had the original reattached.
    • corners, on 03/24/2008, -0/+5You obviously haven't seen "John Wayne Bobbitt Uncut" -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122561/

      All I'm saying is, it is never too late for him to get some power and cut it off again....
    • sjbdallas, on 03/24/2008, -0/+5Regarding that, you think you can grow back MORE than you had, or you stuck with the same old amount?
      • mrbad101, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2*Volunteers to try*
        • theaceoffire, on 03/24/2008, -1/+8O.O You do realize they will have to CUT IT OFF to try this, right?
          • Dubbsacc, on 03/24/2008, -1/+12From his eagerness to try out, I don't think there is much to lose.
          • branton87, on 03/24/2008, -3/+0BME Pain Olympics anyone?
      • waynetheman, on 03/24/2008, -3/+9At the very least, there's the real possibility that foreskins can be restored this way.
      • Tribalvirtue, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1They say, if you cut off an extremity, it grows back a little bigger.

        Don't you believe it!
    • saikyan, on 03/24/2008, -1/+1Now there's a name I haven't heard in a long time!
    • cusoman, on 03/25/2008, -1/+2More than half the Digg readership won't even know who that is.
  • mediaphile, on 03/24/2008, -2/+75I would chastise Subby for writing "power" in the headline when he meant to write "powder", but for once the error actually still works.
    • SketchaMPM, on 03/24/2008, -0/+20Yeah, I was certain I had wrote "powder". Checking it this morning, I was pretty embarassed to see my typo on the front page...but thinking about it, it actually applies. I got lucky I guess, heh.
    • DarkSamus, on 03/24/2008, -1/+13it was probably intentional to lure in mutant lovers
    • DownkeyKowng, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2Schnickty Schnickty Schnick
  • tahafcuk, on 03/24/2008, -62/+328 diggs and on FP ??? WTF ??
    • Twelve-60, on 03/24/2008, -2/+24Just. Die.
    • solidus636, on 03/24/2008, -1/+25Shut the ***** up already. You've said the same thing on at least two articles already... we get it.
    • Acewrap, on 03/24/2008, -1/+8How's that new site you are building that will fix all of these problems you say Digg has coming along? Oh... Never mind. You just want to ***** up the thread and complain.
    • arcangelgabriel, on 03/24/2008, -0/+6write your damn congressmen already....
    • SquigglyP, on 03/24/2008, -0/+7for once it's a really important actual news story that is interesting and awesome. Who ***** cares that it's one the front page so fast, it obviously deserves the attention. I'd say that this is proof that the Digg algorithms work, or proof that someone in command knows when a good story needs to have the rules bent. Either way, I'm all for it.
    • qber, on 03/24/2008, -0/+5This is a story about a medical breakthrough that was once thought impossible. And your only concern is that there's something wrong with Digg?
  • bgrah449, on 03/24/2008, -9/+196This is misleading. This was featured a while back in the magazine Esquire ( http://www.esquire.com/features/esquire-100/pigfin ... ), where they interviewed some scientists who were skeptical. Things to keep in mind:
    1) There have been instances of this happening without any powder.
    2) They have no idea how this would ever work on anything more complicated than the end of a finger - for example, a knuckle, let alone a whole arm.
    Definitely promising, worth more investigation. Just keep its limits in mind.
    • xtmno3, on 03/24/2008, -0/+36Well, you have to admit that growing a fingertip from your elbow still beats having nothing.
      • Fracture98, on 03/24/2008, -0/+42I grew this steering wheel on my scrotum. It's drivin' me nuts!
        • Dubbsacc, on 03/24/2008, -0/+14At first I thought you were crazy, but now I can see your nuts! Athankyou.... (/Austin Powers)
        • ThreeDee912, on 03/24/2008, -3/+1I see what you did there...
    • scottfarner, on 03/24/2008, -0/+6Children have the ability to regrow the distal part of certain severed fingers. It is an ability that gets lost as you get older.
      • bgrah449, on 03/24/2008, -0/+4Yes, but there have been instances of it happening in older subjects, as well.
        • surKaz, on 03/24/2008, -0/+4True.. but those are anomalies... Maybe these outliers have something different that we can harvest/learn from.... that can lead to other people having similar abilities.. if only finger tip.. that's still alright.. but hopefully a few decades from now.. it'll be from a joint like the knuckles up at least..
      • Fracture98, on 03/24/2008, -0/+4Need citation. I have yet to find a documented case of this happening, even in children. I'd love to find one, though.
      • GreatDrok, on 03/25/2008, -0/+1When I was 10 years old I went iceskating for the first time. OK, you can see what is coming but I'll continue anyway. At some point I tripped over and put my hands out as you do. Someone skated over the middle and ring finger of my right hand. The tip of my ring finger was nearly severed and the middle finger was broken. I now have some rather fetching toe-pick scars on the middle finger which is also rather bent but the tip of my ring finger (which had gone a nasty colour and had to be pulled off) grew back and hasn't left a scar. Not a distal amputation since I didn't lose any bone but still I was amazed that the tip looked normal after it had literally been sliced flat at the tip.
    • Phearce, on 03/24/2008, -0/+8RTA - same technique has been already been used to regenerate animal organs.
      • bgrah449, on 03/24/2008, -2/+2Read the headline of the Digg submission; read the headline of the article. See how they're different? See how "Regenerative Power Grows Back a Man's Finger" is different than what the article claims? I did read the article. It is also important that they grew back part of a guy's finger, but notice how the rest of the article discusses how the military wants it for lost limbs, etc. Organs != limbs. Limbs have disparate muscles, epidermis, bone, tendon. I've read the article, and the headline is misleading, as well as the article.
        • theaceoffire, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2The nail grew back too.
        • WaveyRavey, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2Pretty sure it was a typo, its meant to say powder.
    • dhughes, on 03/24/2008, -0/+5 I was a bit skeptical too since I've read that one of the few things on a person's body that can regrow are fingertips, also the liver (non-diseased) ribs and something else I can't recall, I'm quite sure it's four parts.

      Although fingertips can regrow but only up to the age of seven or ten years old, I don't think it happens in adults.

      Maybe this new technique is actually doing something, as Phearce said in the article the say they grew a bladder using stem cells from the patient.
      • dhughes, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2 To be sure I asked my Aunt who is an OR nurse and she said ribs probably just repair, heal, she wasn't aware if it is true or not that ribs can regenerate. But the liver can for sure but as I said not if it is diseased.
    • hobophobe, on 03/24/2008, -0/+9There's no magic here. Will simply sprinkling powder do the whole thing? Nah... not until we have extremely mature nanotechnology. But to say "they have no idea how this would ever work" is a bit too skeptical.

      We've started regrowing cartilage into whole forms in the lab, for example. If we can get the bones growing too then it becomes a matter of doing it in stages:

      1. Regrow the bone to approximate sizes, regrow ligaments, joints, etc. all in the lab.
      2. Simultaneously regrow flesh on the appendage that's been lost.
      3. Surgery. Cut the flesh open, fit the ligaments and bones in, close it up. Using pins and external braces the bones can be broken and lengthened to the correct sizes, the ligaments can be held until they grow together.
      4. Rehabilitative therapy, possibly more surgery to force the correct growth patterns.

      [1] may even involve prosthetic components, but the good thing here is that we can't implant into what doesn't exist. If we can have the body naturally grow new flesh and tissue that puts us a step closer to whole limb replacement. Also considering that for many injuries what's needed is solely tissue, this is very promising.

      The ultimate goal isn't to go through billions of pig bladders a year to keep us healthy, but to understand these processes and be able to implement them in synthesized forms that improve on the natural matrices being used here.
  • vroom101, on 03/24/2008, -21/+5From the article...

    ". . . sliced off the tip of his finger . . . "
    • jrobh, on 03/24/2008, -0/+5I think most of us read it already, but thanks.
  • thinman1189, on 03/24/2008, -36/+5This had better not be *****. I seriously want a bigger dick...right the ***** now.
    I can see the Craigslist headlines "Willing to cut dick for sex."
    • SquigglyP, on 03/24/2008, -1/+7if your dick is tiny then I'm afraid cutting it off and trying to grow a new one will just grow you a new tiny dick. However, If you're circumcised this might actually be a good way to get your foreskin back. I don't know too many people who'd be willing to have their dick cut off for any reason, tho.
    • Sheff, on 03/24/2008, -0/+9What he would have to do is cut it in to two sections, and regrow the middle section a few times. Like making a big stack of legos.

      If he didn't want to go through with that he could instead grow himself a really small vagina.
  • ChristBehemoth, on 03/24/2008, -16/+4spiderman 4 viral marketing
    • Archaic1, on 03/24/2008, -0/+9spiderman can't regenerate...
      • GeekyGerge, on 03/24/2008, -0/+8He can now
        • Godlike, on 03/24/2008, -6/+2can his poop regenerate

          lol i said poop up in here

          hehehe poop
      • chrisreynolds, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1I think Lizard became Lizard while trying to find a way to regenerate limbs.

        Not that I think this is viral marketing. It would be pretty ***** mean if it was.
    • Whippets, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2Fail
  • usingpond, on 03/24/2008, -6/+144They better call it "Wolverine powder".
    • lmushl, on 03/24/2008, -0/+8Or Claire Concoction
    • schroeder, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2The best superpower ever!
    • Caai05, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2It isn't called Wolverine Powers. How Lame.

      It's Torgo's Executive Powder. The powder with a million and one uses!
    • WeThePeople2012, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3Logan Powder sounds better.
  • TheRealToma, on 03/24/2008, -3/+122Torgos Executive Powder finds yet another use! :D
  • dilbert, on 03/24/2008, -15/+4Must be April 1st soon.....
    • alpha88, on 03/24/2008, -1/+4Yes, in fact April comes after March, and since today is March 24th, April 1st will be in exactly 8 days. There's actually a neat built-in application on your computer called a "Calendar". If you need to check what other days may be coming up soon. Check it out!
  • dattaway, on 03/24/2008, -18/+2This isn't that amazing. Tips of fingers can grow back without scaring if you are very young.
    • Treoinmypocket, on 03/24/2008, -0/+18except he is 67
    • Phearce, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3True. But you don't often hear of it happening in an adult.
    • Chassit, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2Tip: scarring.
    • melonade, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1Of course it wouldn't be scary... Getting your fingertip cut off would be way more scary.
  • OMnicient, on 03/24/2008, -11/+1I'm buying a bottle of vodka tonight!
    But I'm not going to start staring into the sun just yet.
  • johnstar, on 03/24/2008, -5/+13fifth element ftw!
    • iamnobody8614, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1this story would be better if it involved a hot chick wearing band-aides
    • ell0bo, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1I was thinking Mutant League Football is looking more and more feasible
  • mentallyinhell, on 03/24/2008, -2/+62Hope for veteran amputees and random dumbasses worldwide.
    • Calcularius, on 03/24/2008, -0/+14Now the stupid people can keep breeding ... yay?
    • Jawoodyablowme, on 03/24/2008, -1/+1"Now the stupid people can keep breeding ... yay?"

      Well, just print us up a better brain! Geeze!
    • Balath, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1Mandatory treatment upon the brain for all evangelicals, republicans, and celebrities.
  • PeteBeast, on 03/24/2008, -4/+10This is ***** amazing. I can already see whole limbs growing back in 10 years or so.
    • jrobh, on 03/24/2008, -0/+15maybe in 20 years we will be able to grow a whole body from a pair of severed feet!
      • PURPLEDRINK, on 03/24/2008, -0/+13You got someone's feet and you want to grow them back or something?
      • Hraes, on 03/24/2008, -0/+4Even better, you would have two people at that point--dude with no feet could grow his feet back, and the feet could grow their own body.
        • trendsettr, on 03/24/2008, -2/+1Each foot would grow back a person, so you would have 3 people.
      • Armistead, on 03/25/2008, -0/+1Or from an ear, like in Woody Allen's "Sleeper". ;)
    • NSResponder, on 03/24/2008, -0/+6It's only been a bit more than forty years since the first successful reattachment of a severed limb. I'm sure the day will come when growing new hearts, kidneys, livers, and eyes will be routine.

      -jcr
  • ixprofessorxi, on 03/24/2008, -3/+4Amazing!
  • mal1964, on 03/24/2008, -11/+2I bet it looks even dumber when its not hard.
  • SIant, on 03/24/2008, -10/+17gee thanks for the misleading title.. my dreams of being an X-Man were revived for a few glorious moments then i read the article and they were SMOTHERED AND DESTROYED AND OBLITERATED AND VANQUISHED!! o cruel world, how i hate thee..
  • guk6kk, on 03/24/2008, -15/+8Save the Cheerleader! And Save the World!
    • Matt174e, on 03/24/2008, -4/+2Hmmm... no one gets it.

      Hero's.
      • ngageguy, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3That was actually the first thing I thought of and was scrolling the comments to see the first Heroes comment. My comment would have been, it's made from the blood of a certain cheerleader. Hope she got the patent!
    • MentalHazard, on 03/24/2008, -3/+2No... Save the Chearleader, THEN Save the World!
  • Treoinmypocket, on 03/24/2008, -0/+22From what I understand, this was created at MCV in Richmond VA (a top medical teaching college) and this powder - along w/ several variants - are being field tested (literally) in Iraq.

    There are lots of "if"s between what happened here and a true breakthrough that would allow for true limb and organ regeneration but I HAVE heard that it has been effective in stopping life-threatening bleed outs caused by wounds in battle.

    Certainly something to watch.
  • Denatsu, on 03/24/2008, -4/+8Everyone wants to be the next Wolverine I swear...
    • blckng, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2Not really.

      Talk to me when science lets you shoot red punch beams out of your eyes.
    • leerayIG88, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2I want to be the first juggernaut. See if the US government can stop me.
    • buffbuddha, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2I'd rather be leech so I can be the *****-blocker of mutant powers.
  • kingofnexus, on 03/24/2008, -1/+16I can't wait for doctors to be able to regrow whole organs and body parts, it will make many people lives better.
  • iluvatar1003, on 03/24/2008, -0/+5For it to grow back, would the wound need to be open? Like would they need to put the powder on, then stitch loose skin over it? I wouldn't have thought that putting this powder on the stump of his finger would have any effect.
    • nub4life, on 03/24/2008, -1/+3Yeah, if you watch the video, he said that he had to keep the wound open. And then afterward, it started smelling like pig! haha
  • Rowan187, on 03/24/2008, -10/+2my friend made the comment that it won't be long before people start using this for bigger penises. Just thought I'd mention it.
    • keltin, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2Don't leave home without it.
    • spudlyo, on 03/24/2008, -0/+5Go get a late pass!
    • theaceoffire, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1Thank god your here!
    • alpha88, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1But if you cut off your dick, wouldn't it just grow back with the powder to same insignificant length it was to begin with? And be extremely painful? Seriously if your dick is short enough that you'd cut it off to try and get a larger one... well... I suggest you attempt to regrow your head.
  • jwolcott, on 03/24/2008, -2/+17John Bobbitt is throwing a party.
    • Fracture98, on 03/24/2008, -0/+4He's always going off half cocked.
  • algorimancer, on 03/24/2008, -8/+6A sliced-off fingertip will regrow, even including fingerprints, without any intervention - particularly if only the fleshy part is cut-off. This is well-established in medicine, ask any doctor. This article simply used that "magic powder" as a springboard to talk about ongoing research in regenerative medicine.
    • schnibitz, on 03/24/2008, -0/+4This was further back than that though.
    • kgalyen, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2You're right, a fingertip (not finger) will regrow without any intervention....but only in children. Starting about the age of 11 or 12 this phenomena stops. The interesting thing about this article here is that it was in an adult, not a child.
    • SquigglyP, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3and it was a good half inch of finger, not just fleshy bits.
    • nullcodes, on 03/25/2008, -0/+1I have no idea why you're being dugg down, what you say is correct. And people should google it if they're skeptical.
  • dheaddy, on 03/24/2008, -2/+6This is very very exciting
  • stavrogin2, on 03/24/2008, -1/+37Screw flying cars, this is the future.
    • alpha88, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2I still want flying cars... regrowing limbs doesn't solve that for me... =/
      • PeterODactyl, on 03/24/2008, -0/+5I'd prefer people learning to properly use the non-flying variety before we turn them loose in the flying ones. Talk about severed limbs...
      • PolarZoe, on 05/01/2008, -0/+1Sure it will, now you can regrow the foot the scientist cut off for the car.
  • DanBoodro, on 03/24/2008, -3/+35Bet those guys from BME Pain Olympics are glad to hear about this.
    • cbittle, on 03/24/2008, -1/+8You sir, are a bastard. That is the last thing I wanted to picture right now. ;-)
    • TonySki, on 03/24/2008, -0/+4they better not use this stuff. It's better for the world if they stay out of the gene pool.
    • xlneoMAXlx, on 03/24/2008, -0/+4Oh god... my penis hurts... Don't bring those things up!
    • Ishkabible, on 03/24/2008, -0/+0delete
    • CarStan, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1And if they add the right grow factors, they might be able to get much bigger testicles like before! Lets start the Spambots for the best Penis enlargement technique ever!
    • konstantinos88, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2They'd probably just cut it off again
  • p3ngwin, on 03/24/2008, -2/+16i saw this on TED TALKS from the February 2006 (posted on TED July 2007)
    "Alan Russell: Why can't we grow new body parts?"
    http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/142
    • 31073, on 03/24/2008, -0/+4yes, i was looking for that, i knew i watched someone talk about this on TED. thx
    • Mist0r_Wiggles, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2That was really good, BEST TED talk I've seen yet.
  • windmarble, on 03/24/2008, -1/+11I wonder if it could help someone who has been paralyzed by a spinal cord injury?
    • theaceoffire, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1They would have to break open any scaring/healing that occured... and if it didn't work, you would be worse off.
    • j3ff86, on 03/24/2008, -1/+1John Locke is that you? Sorry dude, you're just gonna have to stay on that island!
      • SeraphX, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3I was confused by your comment for a moment before realizing that you *weren't* talking about the philosopher.
  • zoomtechtv, on 03/24/2008, -1/+6Very cool. This is going to help a lot of people.
  • westhe32nd, on 03/24/2008, -3/+17I wonder, if it were possible, how many men would use this technology to regrow foreskin after being circumcised as a baby...
    • ZurMacht, on 03/24/2008, -4/+2As I read your comment, I literally went "uck" outloud.
    • JCPahl, on 03/24/2008, -0/+4Many.
    • xlneoMAXlx, on 03/24/2008, -0/+5OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAND!
    • kmcknight, on 03/24/2008, -2/+212
    • EsseQuamVideri, on 03/24/2008, -5/+3Why the heck would I want my foreskin back? Looked at any uncut penises lately?
      • carpespasm, on 03/24/2008, -0/+6You might want it back in hopes that the added sensetivity you have by having a foreskin would come back. You might also just like the idea of not having part of your body missing for religious or outdated medical reasons.
    • flawedprefect, on 03/24/2008, -0/+4The anti-moyal. Sweet.
  • SteveTheSultan, on 03/24/2008, -1/+5Where can I sign up??? Just start growing me extra parts and i'll start being less safe. Anyone want a finger? $10,000 and I cut it off right in front of you.
  • Aroundtheworls, on 03/24/2008, -9/+6Somewhere a spammer is wondering what happens when the powder is sprinkled on a penis....
  • taketheleap, on 03/24/2008, -3/+46FINALLY! i can regrow my foreskin!
    • moletimer, on 03/24/2008, -2/+11Side effects: Melts penal tissue into disgusting, deformed mess.

      Ah...***** :P
    • NikoKun, on 03/24/2008, -1/+1Wouldn't you have to first remove the old scar tisue? and that would be the worst thing to do to yourself @_@...
  • Swipecat, on 03/24/2008, -8/+5So what? The tip of the finger can grow back anyway if the bone hasn't been cut. And of course the nail will grow back if the nail's root hasn't been cut away.
    • priegog, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3I don't know why people are digging you down, but yeah, as wonderful as this seems, technically this is nothing more than a little bump to the body's natural regenerative powers. Anyone who has sliced their fingerpads know that these will grow back to look exactly how they did.
    • Professr, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3Remember, the article says he cut off an inch and a half of his finger. I'm pretty sure that included bone and fingernail.
    • alpha88, on 03/24/2008, -0/+0You can only regrow the tip of your finger if you're a child. This was an adult, where this wouldn't happen. Fingernails grow back, yes (I've had two ripped off), but if the receptacle from which the nail grows from is cut off entirely, it would not. An inch and a half would most certainly include that, and other types of tissue besides flesh, which would not grow back on their own.
  • rogueyak, on 03/24/2008, -3/+11What tells the cells to quit growing? It seems like this could lead to cancerous growths or something of the like...
    • priegog, on 03/24/2008, -0/+5Yup, that's the biggest issue right now. What in theory could tell cells to grow are some nifty chemicals called cytokines (which have NOTHING to di with this "magic powder" BTW). We have the technology to identify and synthetise these cythokines but the real problem is a) we need to know the exact "formulas" to know how to grow whatever kind of tissue we want and b) we need to know how to stop them once the effect has been achieved. This is the direction regenerative medicine should be taking, instead of focusing on stem cells which really have a finite number of practicl uses. To illustrate this, let me put it this way: in theory, the right "recipe" of cytokines can turn ANY adult cell and turn it into a stem cell.
      It would be analogous to focusing our research on breeding techniques to obtain better crops instead of directly modifiying the genes for which we already have the technology.
      • tinkerbellxtam, on 05/14/2008, -0/+0this is exactly what i was trying to explain in one of my other messages...we just do not know what "triggers" the cells to turn on or off..and you are right, who cares about crops, when we could be focusing of possibly regrowing body parts for people who need them
    • dhughes, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2 I don't know why you're being dugg down that's a very good question to ask.

      I'd say it's the magic of DNA or maybe it's Chromosomes, I don't know, but you're body has the plans and the knowledge to grow what needs to be grown and when to stop.

      Just think of all the different types of cells in that man's fingertip; keratin for the nail, many different layers of skin cells, tendons, veins. Even his fingerprint came back eventually!
    • xlneoMAXlx, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2If I am not mistaken, Mr. T.tells the cells to stop growing.
    • uziko, on 03/24/2008, -3/+1That is a dumb question. When it's done growing the skin covers everything up and you can't put anymore powder on it. It's all in your dna code, it's like the software code for windows. Your cells just do what the dna tells them to do, which would be to grow back a finger in the same shape and size that the dna tells it to.
  • nonchai, on 03/24/2008, -13/+8So Gawd cant heal amputees but soon Science will. Good riddance to all the Benny Hinn charlatans out there. Science trumps gullibility every time.
    • Ub3rL33ch, on 03/24/2008, -7/+4Not only can God not heal amputees, he can't do anything anyone thinks he can do period, because he doesn't exist!
      I hope they do good things with this technology, sounds like they are well on their way.
    • alpha88, on 03/24/2008, -2/+2Unfortunately some religious wacko will claim that God invented the powder to heal us. But if that were the case, why wouldn't he have done it sooner? Oh right... cause he's as real as Santa and the Easter Bunny.
  • mgxplyr, on 03/24/2008, -9/+3Can I use this powder as a penis enlargement?
    • SquigglyP, on 03/24/2008, -0/+4if this wasn't the eighth time that 'joke' was posted, it would still be mildly amusing (tho still entirely idiotic)
    • Whippets, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2Shut up little dick
  • laserblazer, on 03/24/2008, -10/+1I think I'd rather have a stump than the mess in that photo.
    • j3ff86, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2His finger is completely normal in the video. I think that picture was before the 4 weeks.
  • SammyJr, on 03/24/2008, -12/+11So if I sprinkle this on my dick I can have my foreskin back? Sign me up!
    • marcoabuso, on 03/24/2008, -4/+4hahahah i just died laughing in my class
      • Professr, on 03/24/2008, -0/+9we'd better get you some powder then
    • DjViral, on 03/24/2008, -3/+3sadly and weirdly that my work lol
    • noseeme, on 03/24/2008, -3/+1Just to voluntarily cut it off again.
      • JCPahl, on 03/25/2008, -0/+3Ew, and lose the ~250 feet of nerve endings again? Not me...
  • liquidmetalband, on 03/24/2008, -0/+8Anything is possible. Your whole body's DNA can be found in every cell, so this is very plausible.
    • noseeme, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2Plausible, but ***** outlandish. You're saying this powder can read your DNA then know exactly where is was applied and regrow the organ you want?
      Were you snorting this powder by any chance?
      • melonade, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1They said in the video that the powder simply triggers the cells to start growing again. It's not like the powder does all the work, it is your own body doing it in response to the powder.
    • CarStan, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2so if i put tissue from my penis on my finger and then add the magic powder, will i grow a penis on my finger?
  • KillerKellerjr, on 03/24/2008, -0/+12It would be awesome to regrow my 3 finger tips, smashed em flat as a pancake in an accident several years ago. I'd love to get rid of the phantom pains and feelings if possible. But it would be "kind of wierd" as my wife puts.....
  • Musicmonkey34, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2i wonder if this would work for people who were born with physical deformities. Maybe it could be a solution to the stunted growth of a limb or a club foot.
    • DjViral, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2thats a really good question. because the cells in their bodies are based on their genes and the reason they are deformed is because their gene structure is off, so that would mean changing genes instead of regenerating from cells. if you were to regenerate from cells that had messed up genes i don't think you would get a brand new functioning leg, probably just another deformed leg. well maybe not , but you catch what i mean.
      • Jawoodyablowme, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2I don't know about the deformities you're talking about, but what about deformities caused by something other than genetics? Just lop off the deformed body part, sprinkle powder, and you're like new again!
      • carpespasm, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2many problems like these can be caused by things other than bad genes. There's a strong link between some birth defects and maternal nutrition, as well as deformities from a baby being in the womb in a bad position.
    • tinkerbellxtam, on 05/14/2008, -0/+0this is a good question...and if you take a look at lizards, when they get a leg cut off they are able to regrow it, but it is not as good as the one from before, it is merly a scar of the previous...But with physical deformities, we could use stemcells to heal them...however the problem is we can get the stemcells, we just dont know what triggers somthing in the cell to turn it on, thus repairing genes.. :( sad realy, i hope they do find it.
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