Genetic factors shaping salamander tails determine regeneration pace
Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - 16:00
in Biology & Nature
Salamanders' capacity to regrow lost limbs may seem infinite when compared with that of humans, but even amongst salamanders, some species regenerate body parts very slowly, while others lose this capacity as they age. Now, researchers have found that salamanders' capacity to regrow a cut tail depends on several small regions of DNA in their genome that impact how wide the tail grows.