--- title: "New Harvard Research Could Be a Step to Human Limb Regeneration" description: "Miracle Grow Harvard researchers say they've identified a \"DNA switch\" enabling animals to regrow entire portions of their bodies — a finding that, with a few important caveats, could pave the way to helping human lost limb regeneration. Like lizards, basically. Limb Bulb The just-published research in the prestigious journal Science details how Gehrke and colleagues sequenced the genetic..." date: "2019-03-18" modified: "2019-03-18" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/harvard-discovers-dna-switch-that-makes-animals-regenerate-limbs" categories: - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "geckos" - "limb regrowth" - "the digest" - "worms" --- # New Harvard Research Could Be a Step to Human Limb Regeneration ![Researchers at Harvard University say they've identified a "DNA switch" that allows animals to regrow entire portions of their bodies — a finding that, with a few important caveats, could pave the way to helping human patients' bodies regenerate lost limbs like lizards.]() *\Image: Donna Wetta via Pixabay/Tag Hartman-Simkins\* ## Miracle Grow Harvard researchers say they've identified a "DNA switch" enabling animals to regrow entire portions of their bodies — a finding that, with a few important caveats, could pave the way to helping human lost limb regeneration. Like lizards, basically. ## Limb Bulb The [just-published]() research in the prestigious journal *Science* details how Gehrke and colleagues sequenced the genetic code of the three-banded panther worm, a Bermuda species with the Gecko-like ability to regrow much of its body after an injury. The team's unexpected finding: a "master control gene" they call the "early growth response" — a switch, essentially, that they can flip on or off to activate a whole slew of genetic code that controls the worm's power to regenerate its lost flesh. ## Leg Roll The extraordinary thing, according to the team, is that the same early gene switch that controls the worms' power of regrowth is present in many other species — including humans. The bad news: in humans, the gene only seems to work at a cellular level. But the scientists are hopeful that the complex array of genes affected by the newly-discovered switch could lead to treatments allowing patients to regenerate entire lost limbs. "It’s a very natural question to look at the natural world and think, if a gecko can do this, why can’t I?" evolutionary biologist Mansi Srivastava, who led the research, told the *Harvard* *Gazette*. "There are many species that can regenerate, and others that can’t, but it turns out if you compare genomes across all animals, most of the genes that we have are also in the three-banded panther worm." **READ MORE:** [The genetics of regeneration]() \[*The Harvard Gazette*\] **More on regrowing limbs:** [A Wearable Device Helped Frogs Regrow Their Amputated Limbs]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()