Stem Cells - The Salamander Effect

Regeneration by means of Stem Cells

Dr. Reg spoke on this intriguing topic at MannaFest--If you were there, do you remember it?

Did you know that a salamander can REGENERATE a tail, leg, and even some organs, including an eye? Why?

According to Dr. Reg and other scientists, it is because it has MILLIONS of Stem cells in its blood.
The Mechanism: For years, it has been unclear as to whether this regeneration depends on
a population of pluripotent stem cells that have resided in the animal body prepared for such an event (as occurs in the hydra) or
the dedifferentiation of specialized cells, e.g. muscle and cartilage cells, in the stump.
The answer appears to be both.
Stem cells in the spinal cord migrate into the regrowing tail and differentiate into several cell types, including muscle and cartilage. Although the stem cells are ectoderm, they are able to develop into mesoderm.
Muscle cells in the stump migrate into the blastema while
reentering the cell cycle to produce thousands of descendants;
dedifferentiate as they do so; that is, they lose the characteristic proteins, etc. of muscle cells.

Starfish - These echinoderms can regenerate the entire organism from just one arm and the central disk. At one time oyster fishermen used to dredge up starfish from their oyster beds, chop them up in the hope of killing them, and then dump the parts back overboard. They soon discovered to their sorrow the remarkable powers of regeneration of these animals.

Mammals - Don't we wish that we had the same powers of regeneration that salamanders do: able to regenerate a severed spinal cord or grow a new heart!
We can regenerate some skin and a large amount of liver. But until recently, it seemed that that was the extent of it.
Stem cells have the ability to regenerate any other cell in the body. Thus a stem cell can become a neuron, a liver cell, a brain cell, a fingernail cell, etc.

Early research on glyconutrients (the necessary sugars) suggests that by adding glyconutrients to the human diet, there is an increase in production in one’s bone marrow stem cell production.
Until the JAMA article, Dr. McDaniel’s science team had not been unable to explain how adults with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s and children with cerebral palsy, leukodystrophy, Down syndrome, autism and FAS experience restorations in brain function with the addition of glyconutrients and other micronutrients to their diet.