Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution => Topic started by: chris on 03/04/2017 19:00:12
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S.Laxme Nivass just wrote to me with this question:
If the DNA of a animal is taken and it is placed in the DNA of a human, it is possible that the animal's specific power can be transmitted to that human and can he use that specific power?
For example, if a lizard's tail is cut off it will regrow. An ant can lift 8 times its weight. Can these types of specific power be transferred to a human, and can he use it?
What do we think?
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The zebra fish can repair around 20% of its heart muscle if damaged so that may be a better trait to have. It is likely more complex than you imagine. Even better would be to use nicotinamide mononucleotide NMN. This has recently been found to repair DNA making cells indistinguishable from those of the young. Dr Lindsay Wu from the university of NSW is taking the vitamin himself.
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Ants being able to lift 8 times their own weight is a function of scaling laws (small things are proportionately stronger than large things). You can't make a human lift 8 times their own weight by inserting ant genes.
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is it possible that the animal's specific power can be transmitted to that human and can he use that specific power?
Most complex biological processes are a result of the interaction of many genes, so it is rarely a matter of just transplanting one gene to move an entire trait to another species. You must also move the complex network of genetic controls which sense the environment and regulate expression of the gene, and these networks are often harder to identify.
There are cases where the human version of a gene is "broken", and in these cases it may be possible to restore the "missing" function by copying the gene from another individual or species where it is functional, for example:
- Humans with a severe genetic error in their immune system (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_combined_immunodeficiency#Treatment) have been treated with a "correct" gene to restore their immune system.
- Humans suffer scurvy because we have a mutated gene that synthesizes vitamin C. Correcting this gene based on a template from a species which is able to synthesize vitamin C may be able to banish scurvy - but would some people then suffer a dangerous excess of vitamin C?.
- Humans have the remains of hundreds of smell sensors in our genome which are mutated and non-functional. By correcting these genes based on functional smell receptors from other species, we might gain a new appreciation of food - but would we then become hermits, unable to stand the stink of big crowds?
if a lizard's tail is cut off it will regrow
Automy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autotomy) or voluntary self-amputation at a pre-specified site is a more controlled process than major damage to a random body part.
However, it is true that some creatures like salamanders, worms and starfish exhibit the ability to regrow complex structures after major trauma.
In most cases, humans tend to grow scar tissue over injuries, which then prevents regeneration of the original tissue types.
It has been found that young children (up to around age 5) can regrow a fingertip with bone and fingernail structures after injuries. It required a change in medical practice to allow this to occur naturally, since the traditional medical practice of stitching the skin together over the wound prevents the stem cell growth and differentiation necessary to regenerate the different tissue types.
Numerous researchers are trying to discover the processes that would permit tissue regeneration - especially in spinal injuries; peripheral nerves can regrow, but it appears that nerves of the spinal cord are blocked by scar tissue.