Salamanders have an enviable ability to regrow appendages that are amputated or injured; they re-create all the bones, muscle, skin, blood vessels, and nerves of the new body part so adeptly that it's hard to tell that it was ever missing. Because of this ability, salamanders have been popular subjects for scientists studying regeneration--and trying to learn how human cells might be coaxed to perform the same feat. In salamanders, new tissues come from a tumor like mass of cells. (source: technologyreview.com)
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