Unlike humans, animals have the remarkable ability to regenerate body parts. Among vertebrates, axolotls are unrivalled in their ability to regrow gills, tails, limbs, heart, kidney and other internal organs.
Although other salamanders can regrow their limbs they cannot regrow their internal organs. So because of that Axolotl's regeneration ability is special. As such, it is no wonder then that the axolotl counts as one of the most scientifically researched salamanders in the world. scientists have discovered that the axolotl has a remarkably complex genome with 32 billion base pairs. Our genome is a dwarf in comparison having only 3 billion base pairs. once a limb of an axolotl is wounded, the wound site bleeds very little and heals over during a hour. A wound epidermis is quickly formed by cells that work to cover the wound site. n the next couple of days, the cells of the wound epidermis divide and grow rapidly forming a blob (cone-shaped structure called a blastema), which then undergoes growth and patterning to form a new limb.
The time it takes axolotls to regenerate a limb depends on factors such as age and body size. A juvenile axolotl is able to regenerate faster compared to an older axolotl. A juvenile axolotl may regrow a lost limb in 40-50 days. Good nutrition coupled with excellent water conditions will certainly help along in the process.
While there are still many unanswered questions about the regenerative powers of axolotls, researchers are already finding potential applications of this research in human tissue regrowth. For example, researchers are looking into improving prospective stem cell therapies in aging human eyes by studying axolotl retinas. Likewise, the ability of axolotls to rapidly regrow their lungs could help us in finding ways to regenerate human lungs.
Scientists are also hoping to uncover a way to regulate the environment around cancer cells and force them to grow normally.