• Question: is it possable for humans to regrow limbs like lobbsters?

    Asked by hamster to Amy, Drew, Julia, Sara on 22 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Drew Rae

      Drew Rae answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      Hi Hamster. I don’t believe so, but I have no idea why not, or how lobsters do it. I’ll have to leave that to our biologists.

    • Photo: Julia Griffen

      Julia Griffen answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      Hey… No not possible. again not sure why lobsters can do it.. You;ve told me somthing I didn;t know today! .. that can be my fact of the day 🙂

    • Photo: Amy MacQueen

      Amy MacQueen answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      Aha so lobsters can regrow legs, claws and antennae, but cant regrow their tails. Humans cannot regrow limbs (bummer)…but if you lose a piece of your liver you can regrow that a little bit!! 🙂

    • Photo: Sara Imari Walker

      Sara Imari Walker answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      Hi hamster!! I would say yes it is possible. But we would have to do an awful lot of genetic engineering so it is likely not going to happen in the near future. I don’t know exactly how lobsters do it, but I imagine they regrow things like most organisms that can regenerate – using stem cells. Stem cells are very special cells – they don’t differentiate. All other cells in our body turn into liver cells, lung cells, skin cells, brain cells etc. Stems cells are special because they don’t do this, but they can, they are full of possibilities! Or they can divide to make new stem cells. So in a lobster, when something gets cut off its stems cells are most likely activated to repair that part by growing exactly the right tissues. We have stem cells too, so it is entirely possible that we could engineer them to know to regrow an arm! we would just have to get them to activate the right genes! We are a long way off from this still, but if the animal kingdom provides any guide it is definitely possible. As it is, it is pretty cool we can repair cuts, why not whole limbs!!

      Nice question hamster!! Do you like Hamtaro at all? =)

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