Please prominently display a retraction for each of your finger regeneration articles.

See the comments for the reasons.

I put it on the other page and here it is again so nobody misses it.

www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/05/26/regrowing.body.parts/

As for the “Expert” Prof. Simon Kay, I am skeptical after researching him (www.plastic-surg.co.uk/about-sk.htm) that he is even qualified to comment on biomedical engineering since he is a COSMETIC SURGEON.

But there is evidence of his knowledge of chickens as seen in his 2003 Publication titled, “Happy hens lay bigger eggs”.

I won’t sit here and say that he could have a particular interest in instilling doubt that there could be a revolutionary technique which would make his job obsolete… but well… he sort of has a bit of a conflict of interest, right? I think his claim that it is “Junk Science” is a bit premature and uninformed. He might have just left it that the man could easily have regrown the tip without the ECM. But to suggest that regenerative medicine is “Junk Science” is totally off-base.

It is funny too that in 1984 he worked on a paper called, “Spontaneous healing and relief of pain in a patient with intractable vasculitic ulceration of the lower limb following an intravenous infusion of prostacyclin”….

and according to this source:

“Prostacyclin plays an important role in inflammatory glomerular disorders by regulating the metabolism of ECM” content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Doi=54201

Sooo… i’m no scientist but it sort of sounds like the paper he worked on supports the use of ECM as regenerative medicine.

But when all the dust clears maybe Dr. simon kay may have a chance at an acting career since he is now listed on imdb for his 15 min in the spotlight.

So let me first say that extra-cellular matrices has been used in veternary medicine as well as similar techniques used in humans for a long time.

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From wikipedia on ExtraCellular Matrix:
In terms of injury repair and tissue engineering, the extracellular matrix serves two main purposes. First, it prevents the immune system from triggering from the injury and responding with inflammation and scar tissue. Next, it facilitates the surrounding cells to repair the tissue instead of forming scar tissue.
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Published in 1994 Journal of Biomaterial Applications:

jba.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/19/1/21

Application of combining herbal medicine and biomedical material science to nerve regeneration is a new approach. In this study, we describe a novel use of purified genipin, which can be extracted from Gardenia jasminoides Ellis, fixing the gelatin to be an extracellular matrix for peripheral nerve regeneration. A 10-mm gap of rat sciatic nerve was created between the proximal and distal nerve stumps, which were sutured into silicone rubber tubes filled with either the genipin-fixed gelatin or collagen gel. Silicone rubber tubes filled with saline were used as controls. Six weeks after implantation, regeneration across the nerve gaps occurred in 80 and 90% of the animals from the groups of genipin-fixed gelatin and collagen, respectively, whereas only 30% in the control group. Large numbers of myelinated axons were also seen in the genipin-fixed gelatin (5104±3278) and the collagen groups (8063±1807). These findings indicated that the genipin-fixed gelatin could be an acceptable extracellular matrix for nerve regeneration.
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The method is patented:

Title:
Method of producing a biological extracellular matrix for use as a cell seeding scaffold and implant

Document Type and Number:
United States Patent 5916265

Abstract:
Tissue is procured from a human or animal donor. The tissue may be fixed by application of a fixative. Cellular components which would cause rejection are removed from tissue by a chemical treatment that allows the extracellular matrices (ECM) to retain their original shapes, biological structures and ultrastructures, locations and durability. The resulting ECM serves as a cell scaffold on which living cells are seeded to form a lifegraft for implanting or for allograft reconstruction.
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there is already an FDA-approved material using ECMs that has been used to “repair and reconstruct damaged and diseased tissues and organs in 160,000 patients worldwide”. www.pitt.edu/~msrc/bioeng.pdf

They’ve also been using this in veterinary medicine for a long time to repair tendons and damaged organs.

Steven Badylak:
www.pitt.edu/~msrc/personnel/faculty/steven_badylak.html
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Scarring is (theorized to be) evolution’s answer to infections in wounds. If we had never developed that particular ability our bodies would being doing this naturally. No it isn’t a perfected technique, no it most likely can’t grow back an entire digit, limb, etc. YET. but the fact is that this is a very real medicine and Millions of patients worldwide have had tendons regrown, ulcers fixed, tears in hearts etc. fixed. Vets have used it in horses, dogs, and many other animals to do incredible things such as:
Regrow tendons, Fix bladders, fix a horse’s face that had a huge gaping hole in it etc.

So really… before everyone goes flapping their mouths about how it must be a hoax since the “patient” (that wasn’t really a test subject, just happened to be the brother of the man that is in charge of the project) wasn’t in a scientific case-study, the fact they haven’t published yet (which obviously they aren’t ready to yet), and those of you saying that the finger wasn’t severed 1/2 inch below the tip (i’m sure you’re all medical experts), should really just go do some reading on medical research that has been going on for the past 20 years.

BTW: the reason i bet most ppl even think this is a hoax is because that crazy old man called it “pixie-dust” as a nickname. Please note that this was not a product that is being marketed, it was simply something that the man’s brother was able to provide.

www.ted.com/talks/view/id/142

I agree that the “regrown finger” is not impressive. However, the rest of the talk looks scientifically informed. So what’s going on?

Has it been exaggerated for a bit of publicity? Is it bad science reporting of a “revolution” rather that the reality of baby-step progress? Or is the whole talk above just bogus?

To my surprise, the consultant just put it in a bag full of some white goo (pixie goo?) and wrapped the whole thing in a bandage. I had to go back every week or so to get the dressings changed. After about 8 weeks the dressing came off permanently and there was my finger more or less the same as before. Although I now have a bit of a talon rather than a nail.

The point is, my finger grew back, and I’m not in the paper. Where’s my publicity?

“The more “nothing” you want, the more you pay for it!” – Wot, like the high dilution homeopathic non-remedies?

The profound message in these reports is that human beings have inherent regenerative capabilities that, sadly, have been suppressed by some of our own traditional medical practices.

I can see this being taken up in CAMworld as another excuse to flog their own pointless, useless interventions. In fact it’s a good example of how doing nothing (almost) is sometimes sufficient. Unfortunately, “nothing” in CAMworld is not free. The more “nothing” you want, the more you pay for it!

The following comes from the article.

‘Potential at Our Fingertips.
One of the most encouraging signs that human limb regeneration is a feasible goal is the fact that our fingertips already have an intrinsic ability to regenerate. This observation was made first in young children more than 30 years ago, but since then similar findings have been reported in teenagers and even adults. Fostering regeneration in a fingertip amputation injury is apparently as simple as cleaning the wound and covering it with a simple dressing. If allowed to heal naturally, the fingertip restores its contour, fingerprint and sensation and undergoes a varying degree of lengthening. The success of this conservative treatment of fingertip amputation injuries has been documented in medical journals thousands of times. Interestingly, the alternative protocol for such injuries typically included operating to suture a skin flap over the amputation wound, a “treatment” that we now know will inhibit regeneration even in the salamander because it interferes with formation of the wound epidermis. The profound message in these reports is that human beings have inherent regenerative capabilities that, sadly, have been suppressed by some of our own traditional medical practices.’

i mentioned that earlier when giving it some chat on the today prog

www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/

7:43am

the miracle cure story is 3 years old, with three flurries of media coverage already, feb 07, feb 08, and now may 08. and still no academic publication, and still no clearly documented story on what the injury was, or what the miracle was.

The injury itself apparently occurred back in Aug 2005. The first major story I have been able to find about it is from the Press Association in February 2007, pointed out yesterday on Nature’s “Great Beyond” blog here.

I think the original story will have struck most of us as odd – a bit small-scale for a great scientific breakthrough which it obviously should be. Regenerate like Doctor Who… or like Wolverine.

anyway, for anyone interested, compare:

11.15am BST
Did a man grow his finger back?

* David Batty and agencies
* guardian.co.uk,
* Thursday May 1 2008
* Article history

About this article
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This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Thursday May 01 2008. It was last updated at 11:33 on May 01 2008.

A man’s fingertip has been regrown by US scientists using a powder made from a pig’s bladder – according to the company behind the research, and the finger’s owner.

Lee Spievack, a hobby store salesman in Cincinnati, Ohio, has claimed the treatment stimulated the regrowth of his right hand middle fingertip, which was severed by the propeller of a model plane.

Spievack, 69, described the powder as “pixie dust”. It was developed by a company co-founded by his brother Alan, a former Harvard surgeon.

Spievack said that within four weeks of using the preparation, his finger had regained its original length, and four months later “it looked like my normal finger”, though it was hard, as if calloused, with a slight scar on the end, and the nail was growing at twice the speed of his other nails.

“All my fingers in this cold weather have cracked except that one,” he said.

Acell, the company behind the claim, said it had already used the extract of pig bladder to treat ulcers and other wounds, and to help regrow cartilage.

The powder was mostly collagen and a variety of substances, without any pig cells, said Dr Stephen Badylak, a regeneration expert at the University of Pittsburgh and scientific adviser to ACell.

It formed microscopic scaffolding for human cells to occupy, and emitted chemical signals to encourage those cells to regenerate tissue, he said. The signals did not specifically say “make a finger” but cells picked up that message from their surroundings, he said.

“We’re not smart enough to figure out how to regrow a finger,” Badylak said. “Maybe what we can do is bring all the pieces of the puzzle to the right place and then let mother nature take its course.

“But we are very uninformed about how all of this works. There’s a lot more that we don’t know than we do know.”

ACell is planning to see whether the pig extract can help people injured in accidents or in combat, such as firefighters and soldiers. Even if someone who had lost several fingers could grow just a small stub, it could allow them to pick things up, brush their teeth or button their clothes.

Another US government-funded project is trying to unlock the secrets of how some animals regrow body parts. David Gardiner at the University of California, Irvine, is studying the secrets of the salamander by growing extra arms on the creatures. The amphibians can regrow a severed arm in a matter of weeks.

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3.45pm BST update
Regrown finger is ‘junk science’

* David Batty and agencies
* guardian.co.uk,
* Thursday May 1 2008
* Article history

About this article
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This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Thursday May 01 2008. It was last updated at 15:57 on May 01 2008.

A leading plastic surgeon today dismissed claims that a powder made from a pig’s bladder caused the regrowth of a man’s fingertip.

Professor Simon Kay, professor of hand surgery at the University of Leeds, said the claims by the US company that developed the powder were “junk science”.

Lee Spievack, a hobby store salesman in Cincinnati, Ohio, has claimed the treatment stimulated the regrowth of his right hand middle fingertip, which was severed in 2005 by the propeller of a model plane.

Spievack, 69, described the powder as “pixie dust”. It was developed by ACell – a company co-founded by his brother Alan, a former Harvard surgeon.

Within four weeks of using the preparation, he said his finger had regained its original length, and four months later “it looked like my normal finger”.

But Kay, consultant plastic and hand surgeon at St James’ University Hospital, Leeds, said Spievack’s injury did not look to have been serious from studying before and after photos.

“It’s a ridiculous story – absurd and over-egged in the extreme,” Kay said. “It looked to have been an ordinary fingertip injury with quite unremarkable healing. All wounds go through a repair process.”

ACell, the company behind the claim, said it had already used the extract of pig bladder to treat ulcers and other wounds, and to help regrow cartilage.

The powder was mostly collagen and a variety of substances, without any pig cells, said Dr Stephen Badylak, a regeneration researcher at the University of Pittsburgh and scientific adviser to ACell.

He said it formed microscopic scaffolding for human cells to occupy, and emitted chemical signals to encourage those cells to regenerate tissue. The signals did not specifically say “make a finger” but cells picked up that message from their surroundings, Badylak said.

“We’re not smart enough to figure out how to regrow a finger,” Badylak said. “Maybe what we can do is bring all the pieces of the puzzle to the right place and then let mother nature take its course.

“But we are very uninformed about how all of this works. There’s a lot more that we don’t know than we do know.”

Kay said there was “no evidence” that ACell had manipulated the regenerative capabilities of the human body.

“There’s no clinical evidence to support the claims,” he said. “It really is junk science.

“If you could regenerate body parts like this, your first port of call would be a serious science journal like Nature because it would be a Nobel prize winning revolution.”

British scientists have led the way in research into genetic treatments that could enable humans to regrow limbs damaged by accidents or surgery and allow patients to recover from wounds without scarring.

A charity, the Healing Foundation, which funds research into pioneering scientific techniques, set up a 25-year project in 2005 with the University of Manchester to advance the understanding of wound healing and tissue regeneration.

The Healing Foundation Centre aims to unravel the genetic quirks that allow certain amphibians, such as frogs and salamanders, to recover from severe injuries by generating fresh body tissue. By identifying the genetic mechanisms involved, the researchers hope to develop medical treatments that do the same in humans.

Professor Enrique Amaya, a tissue engineer at Manchester University and leader of the project, is investigating the regenerative capabilities of frogs. Frog embryos share the human embryo’s ability to heal wounds without scars in a matter of hours. Frogs can also regrow appendages.

David Batty ftw!

anyone else have this?