Scientists discover cells that cheat death and rebuild damaged tissue - Science Daily

There's a rare, inherited sight condition, involving faulty copies of the CaBP4 gene, that causes poor vision from childhood. The protein made by the gene is crucial for chemical signaling in the retina. It's also something that can affect dogs – and in treating pooches, researchers have discovered a therapy approach that promises to be transformative. In a study published in Molecular Therapy Advances, researchers led by a team from Michigan State University in the US report that a single-dose gene therapy treatment not only stopped blindness from progressing, it physically repaired damaged connections. It raises the tantalizing prospect of treatments that can repair nerve cells in mammals, something which had previously been thought by many to be impossible. "We were able to show three independent structural changes supporting plasticity in the adult retina," says veterinary ophthalmologist Billie Beckwith-Cohen, from Michigan State University. "Not only were new components added, but pre-existing abnormalities were repaired.

The sea cucumber study reveals an unusual form of tissue regrowth, with detached fragments continuing to heal, reorganize, and grow for more than three years in natural seawater. Credit: ShutterstockSea cucumber tissue kept growing for more than three years after removal, surviving in seawater teeming with microbes. Like Thing, the disembodied hand in The Addams Family, a severed piece of sea cucumber tissue kept living without the body it came from, prompting scientists to describe the animal as a “real-life zombie.” Weeks after being cut from a tube foot, the fragment appeared to be growing in seawater full of microbes, far from the sterile conditions usually needed to keep tissue cultures alive. Scientists at Memorial University of Newfoundland followed up by placing tissue removed from the feet, main body, and tentacles of three sea cucumbers in flowing seawater. The animals belonged to Psolus fabricii, a cold-water species. Working with collaborators including Rachel Sipler, a senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, the team documented what happened to those fragments in a study published in Science Advances.