Axolotl Salamanders

Posted by Johnny Cat in Animal on October 16, 2009 at 11:08 am

axolotl

Image: The Cellar

The Axolotl is a rare type of salamander, closely related to the Tiger Salamander species.  They are about 9 inches long on average, and carnivorous.  The cute critters are only native to central Mexico’s Lake Xochomilco, and yes – they are edible, and used to be a staple in the Aztec diet; but they are highly endangered due to the expansion of Mexico City.

They are, on the other hand, highly bred in captivity due to their value in research.

Axolotls are especially easy to breed compared to other salamanders in their family, which are almost never captive bred due to the demands of terrestrial life. One attractive feature for research is the large and easily manipulated embryo, which allows viewing of the full development of a vertebrate. Axolotls are used in heart defect studies due to the presence of a mutant gene that causes heart failure in embryos.

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Link to Axotls site
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Salamander Discovery Could Lead to Human Limb Regeneration

Posted by Miss Cellania in Science & Tech on July 2, 2009 at 11:49 am

Humans have always been fascinated with the salamander’s ability to regenerate lost limbs. Now scientists studying salamander genes have discovered that the process isn’t quite as complicated as once thought.

By tracking individual cells in genetically modified salamanders, researchers have found an unexpected explanation for their seemingly magical ability to regrow lost limbs.

Rather than having their cellular clocks fully reset and reverting to an embryonic state, cells in the salamanders’ stumps became slightly less mature versions of the cells they’d been before. The findings could inspire research into human tissue regeneration.

“The cells don’t have to step as far back as we thought they had to, in order to regenerate a complicated thing like a limb,” said study co-author Elly Tanaka, a Max Planck Institute cell biologist. “There’s a higher chance that human or mammalian cells can be induced into doing the same thing.”

Researchers are hopeful, but also aware that early experiments in replicating this cell process can lead to uncontrolled growth, meaning cancers. Link

 
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