New Scientist
Image: Stefano Mortellaro
Every one of us has a superpower. Shave off the very tip of your finger or toe and it should grow back. Now we know how.
Like amphibians, humans can regenerate skin and bone, but unfortunately our powers of regeneration are limited to the ends of our fingers. It’s a trick we share with mice, so to find out how we do it, Mayumi Ito at New York University and her colleagues took a closer look at mouse digits.
Using a cell-labelling technique, the team identified a previously unknown population of stem cells at the base of each toenail. Tests showed that these “nail stem cells” help with ordinary nail growth, but can also rebuild the entire digit tip after amputation. Read more on newscientist.com…
