Researchers at Philadelphia's Wistar Institute have identified a gene that may regulate regeneration in mammals. According to their research, the absence of the p21 gene confers a healing potential in mice long thought to be reserved for creatures like flatworms, sponges and some species of salamander. But in a report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers demonstrate that mice lacking the p21 gene gain the ability to regenerate lost or damaged tissue.

It is thought that in mammals this healing potential has been lost through evolution, but may lie dormant in cells and could be reactivated by switching off the p21 gene. Mice engineered in the laboratory to lack the p21 gene were able to renew surgically removed tissue so that no trace of an injury remained, the Guardian reports.

"Much like a newt that has lost a limb, these mice will replace missing or damaged tissue with healthy tissue that lacks any sign of scarring," says Ellen Heber-Katz, the project's lead scientist, in a statement. "While we are just beginning to understand the repercussions of these findings, perhaps, one day we'll be able to accelerate healing in humans by temporarily inactivating the p21 gene."

- read the press release
- see the study abstract
- check out the Guardian's coverage

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