Pet Shop Accident..

Julia stared into the salamander tank in horror. As an assistant in a pet shop, Julia had mistakenly put a small salamander in the same tank as a large one. Just as she realized her error, the large salamander attacked and bit off the smaller salamander's leg! Acting quickly, Julia scooped up the injured salamander and put it in it's own tank. She was sure it would die before her shift ended, but she was wrong. Days passed... Then weeks. Every time Julia checked on the salamander she was more amazed at what she saw. What happened to the salamander's limb?

Saturday, December 14, 2013

So, How DID that Salamander Grow His Leg Back?

There are three stages to the limb regeneration. Week 1 is De-differentiation. As we know de-differentiation is the un-specialization of the cells. This happens after a trauma has occurred to the salamander. During this cells such as muscle cells and nerve cells lose the characteristics that make them special.

Week 3 is the Blastema Formation. At this point the de-differentiated cells move to the wounded area and form a blastema, a growing mass of undifferentiated cells. At this point the salamanders body is mimicking what happens at the embryo stage of birth.

Week 5 is the Re-differentiation of the cells. Cells in the blastema then re-differentiate and the cells start creating the tissues needed for the new limb to grow. the cells go through several rounds of Interphase and Mitosis to create more and more cells. The cells continue to go through re-differentiation and in no time the salamander has a fully functioning new leg!!

 Check out this video of a salamander growing it's leg back!

  Google images provided pictures and information is credited to Biology by Joesph  Levine and Kenneth Miller.(ch10)
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3 comments:

  1. UnknownDecember 16, 2013 at 6:37 AM

    What is a blastema? I'm a little confused on that part

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousDecember 16, 2013 at 6:54 AM

      The blastema is a hallow ball full of cells

      Delete
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