Humans could push back their limbs when scientists discover a "DNA switch"

People might one day have the opportunity to push back some parts of their body after discovering a "DNA switch" capable of reactivating the genes that control regeneration.

Animals like salamanders and geckos can lose parts of their bodies to escape predators and grow new ones that have been cut in just a few months.

Worms and planar jellyfish go even further by regenerating their entire body after being cut in half.

Now, a team of scientists has been examining the three-bandworm genes for the panther to better understand how they do it.

They discovered that a "master" control gene called early growth response (EGR), also present in humans and other animals, is responsible for it.

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Researchers at Harvard University have discovered that some of the noncoding – controversial DNA, dubbed "undesirable" DNA by some – controls the activation of the EGR, which acts as a switch for the process. regeneration.

Non-coding sections of DNA are not directly involved in the process of creating proteins that trigger a whole series of biological processes.

This has led some to think that these sections of our genes and those of other animals are useless.

More recent research suggests that the situation is much more complicated, including the Harvard study.

Humans already have the EGR "switch" that repairs the cells, but it does not seem to trigger large-scale regeneration.

Scientists now think that the gene is wired differently in humans and are now trying to find a way to change that so that we too can "regenerate".

"What we have discovered is that this unique gene is activated … and that it activates the genes that activate during regeneration," said Dr. Andrew Gehrke, Harvard postdoctoral researcher and lead author of the study.

"Basically, what happens is that non-coding regions are telling regions to code to turn on or off, so a good way to think about this is as if they were switches . "

For this process to work, the DNA in worm cells, which is normally well folded and compacted, must change, making new areas available for activation.

Portions of these very tight parts of the genome – the complete genetic code of the worms studied – to become physically more open, say the experts.

They act as regulatory switches to turn genes on or off, suggesting that their genomes are dynamic and changing rapidly as different parts open and close.

Although the study reveals new information about how the process works in worms, it can also help explain why this does not work in humans.

Mansi Srivastava, assistant professor in organismic and evolutionary biology who led the study, said: "The question is: if humans can activate the EGR, and not only activate it, but do it when our cells are damaged, why can "We regenerate ourselves?

"The answer may be that if EGR is the power switch, we think the wiring is different.

"What EGRs talk about in human cells may be different from what the three-banded panther worm speaks about.

"What Andrew did with this study, is to find a way to get that wiring.

"So we want to understand what these connections are and then apply them to other animals, including vertebrates, that can only perform a more limited regeneration."

The complete results of the study were published in Science.