Bioscience
One Step Forward: Salamanders and Limb Regeneration
Looking for a better answer for amputees, researchers have turned to nature’s expert in limb regeneration, the salamander. The human body initially reacts similarly to that of a salamander. We immediately form a scar to prevent the open wound from infections and major blood loss, but our bodies stop there. Unlike the salamanders, we cannot reactivate or naturally form a blastema to regenerate a new limb in a few weeks.
Bionic Woman Live: Horsehead Grasshopper Works Behind the Scene
Scientists and engineers at MIT are striving to change the design of artificial limbs which are difficult to use and extremely painful. Their efforts are benefiting from studies on a very curious insect model: the horsehead grasshopper that can move its limbs without relying on any muscles. They studied denervated grasshopper limbs that were flexed at different angles and found that a “passive joint force” moves limbs to their original positions when flexed.