Glowing axolotls could help humans regrow limbs

WITH a silly smile and frilly gills, the axolotl has wriggled its way into the hearts of millions, becoming a popular aquarium pet and pop culture icon in video games, children’s books and toy stores.

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But this adorable species of salamander is also helping researchers investigate a serious medical mystery: could the human body be coaxed to regrow a severed arm or leg?

Scientists are turning to the axolotl because it is an expert at regeneration. After losing a limb, an adult axolotl can grow it back fresh and new.

In a study published in the journal Nature Communications this week, scientists used axolotls genetically engineered to glow in the dark to understand the molecular underpinnings of this amazing trait.

“This species is special,” said James Monaghan, a Northeastern University biologist who led the research. They’ve “really become the champion of some extreme abilities that animals have.”

Although critically endangered in the wild in Mexico, axolotls have been kept and studied in labs since the 19th century.

They are known for being, naturally, forever young. Unlike other amphibians, such as frogs, axolotls never go through full metamorphosis, instead retaining into adulthood certain juvenile characteristics such as external gills and webbed feet that make them look so weirdly cute to their human admirers.

The species is also a comeback king, able to regrow not only lost limbs but also tissue in the heart, lungs and even the brain.