XHonusWagnerX
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"Magic Pixie Dust" regrows severed finger...
The amazing 'pixie dust' made from pigs bladder that regrew a severed finger in FOUR weeks
By FIONA MACRAE
Scientists are claiming an amazing breakthrough - regrowing a man's severed finger with the aid of an experimental powder.
Four weeks after Lee Spievack sliced almost half an inch off the top of one of his fingers, he said it had grown back to its original length.
Four months later it looked like any other finger, complete with "great feeling", a fingernail and fingerprint.
The secret to the astonishing regrowth is said to be the powder described by Mr Spievack, a Cincinnati model shop salesman, as "pixie dust".
More properly known as extra-cellular matrix, it is bursting with collagen, the protein that gives skin its strength and elasticity, and is made from
dried pig's bladder.
It was developed to regenerate damaged ligaments in horses. "The second time I put it on I could already see growth," said Mr Spievack, 69.
"Each day it was up further. Finally it closed up and was a finger. It took about four weeks before it was sealed."
Mr Spievack damaged his finger in the propeller of a model plane three years ago. He turned down a skin graft in favour of the "pixie dust"
recommended by his brother, a former surgeon and the founder of the firm that makes the powder.
While it is not entirely clear how the powder works, its developers believe it kick-starts the body's natural healing process by sending out signals
that mobilise the body's own cells into repairing the damaged tissue.
Dr Stephen Badylak, of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, told the BBC: "There are all sorts of signals
in the body.
"We have got signals that are good for forming scar tissue and others that are good for regenerating tissues.
"One way to think about these matrices is that we've taken out many of the stimuli for scar tissue formation and left those signals which were always
there for constructive remodelling."
In other words, the powder directs tissues to grow afresh rather than form scars.
"We're not smart enough to figure out how to regrow a finger," said Dr Badylak.
"Maybe what we can do is bring all of the pieces of the puzzle to the right place and then let Mother Nature take its course. There's a lot more that
we don't know than we do know."
But Professor Stephen Kaye, a consultant plastic and hand surgeon at Leeds University, poured cold water on Dr Badylak's claims.
Asked if he was surprised that Mr Spievack's finger "grew back" he said: "Not in the slightest."
Prof Kaye added: "The pictures I've seen on the web show a wound I would have expected to heal and regenerate in any case.
"The end of the finger is extremely good at regeneration. The pictures we've seen on the web show no evidence of loss of bone, nerve or tendon
material, but regeneration and repair of skin - which is exactly what the fingertip does."
He added that the photographs appeared to portray a "very commonplace transverse amputation of the very end of the fingertip" and not someone who had
lost the last phalanx of his finger, as Dr Badylak claimed.
Prof Kaye said extra-cellular matrix was an acknowldged way of promoting wound healing, but pointed out that there was a "big difference" between
healing and regeneration.
"I don't want people to have false hopes," he told the Radio 4's The World Tonight news programme.
| Quote: | Originally posted by REV.PAULIE
HONUS-as much as i can't stand a great deal of what you really like (for my own reasons that i would never hold,nor impose,against you),YOU FUCKING
RULE!
YOU,HONUS,IS WHAT MAKES THE "EDGE" COOL.
YOUR FRIEND,
PAULIE |
check out my post contributions at www.VinylNoize.com
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defstarsteve
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there was a discussion on npr a few weeks back about regeneration
why lizards can do it but we can't
and what was siad is that it is possible, but it would take some level of cell manipulation, to work our eveolution in that direction...
as they guy said, we can heal wounds to a certain point, but becasue of the way have to handle stoping blood loss, and prevent bacteria and infection,
we can prevent regeneration from starting on it's own...
evoultion with the help of technology is creepy and amazing at the same time
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Murk
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i think the next 20 years are going to produce medical breakthoughs that will be hard to keep up with and comprehend.
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clevohardcore
* Kick\'n ass on the wild side *
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I just want them to discover PERMENANT HAIR REMOVAL for my back, shoulders and chest. This shit is crazy. 
Each aspect of the soul has it's own part to play, but the ideal is harmonious agreement with reason and control.
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XHonusWagnerX
Moderator
Posts: 12509
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great... we'll all live longer so we can see the world turn to complete shit.
| Quote: | Originally posted by REV.PAULIE
HONUS-as much as i can't stand a great deal of what you really like (for my own reasons that i would never hold,nor impose,against you),YOU FUCKING
RULE!
YOU,HONUS,IS WHAT MAKES THE "EDGE" COOL.
YOUR FRIEND,
PAULIE |
check out my post contributions at www.VinylNoize.com
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