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Some of our closest invertebrate cousins, like this Acorn worm, have the ability to perfectly regenerate any part of their body that's cut off - including the head and nervous system. Humans have most of the same genes, so scientists are trying to work out whether human regeneration is possible, too.
Regeneration – now that'd be a nice superpower to have. Injure an arm? Chop it off and wait for it to grow back. Dicky knee? Ingrown toenail? Lop off your leg and get two for one!
It sounds ridiculous, but there's a growing number of scientists that believe body part regeneration is not only possible, but achievable in humans. After all, not only are there plenty of animals that can do it, we can do it ourselves for our skin, nails, and bits of other organs.
Perhaps humans don't regrow body parts because, unlike worms, they have an idea 'how much that stings.'
(Score: 3, Interesting) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Friday December 02 2016, @12:49PM
> My musing is that our technology might be able to "print" or otherwise give a major structural template, it maybe possible.
In other words it's a choice between "growing a new leg" as in "start off with a tiny foetus-leg that gradually develops into an adult-sized one" and "growing a new leg" as in "skip the intermediate steps and just build an adult leg directly."
i.e. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9OBbsLYGOE [youtube.com] vs https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sWr7rcoAWaQ/maxresdefault.jpg [ytimg.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 03 2016, @12:23AM
It's "build the new leg in the lab, then surgically attach" really.