Tissue Regeneration: Animals and Plants

Tissue regeneration happens to varying degrees in all animals and plants during embryonic development, maturation, and injury repair. Its potential as a therapeutic treatment has led to intense research of its mechanisms, with regenerative therapies showing great promise.

Tissues regenerate from both the propagation of somatic cells (adult cells dividing into more adult cells) and the maturation of undifferentiated (stem) cells. While study continues on these well-known mechanisms, the recent discovery of multipotent adult stem cells and of the ability of fully mature adult cells to dedifferentiate to a previous stemlike state has fueled research. The ability to regenerate complex tissue through a process of dedifferentiation and redifferentiation happens naturally in animals such as starfish and salamanders, as well as having been artificially performed in the ...