By using a powdered extract from a pig bladder, it may be possible to regrow parts of fingers. This could help people who have lost fingers in fires, explosions, or doing not very bright things. While it has not been scientifically verified that the pig bladder extract is solely responsible for the regeneration, the compound has been approved by the FDA for use in humans. Currently the compound is used to help horses regenerate ligaments.

The basic function is well written in the AP article, "The powder is mostly collagen and a variety of substances, without any pig cells, said Badylak, who's a scientific adviser to ACell. It forms microscopic scaffolding for incoming human cells to occupy, and it emits chemical signals to encourage those cells to regenerate tissue, he said."

The Pentagon is currently involved in studies with salamanders to determine how they are able to regenerate entire limbs. It is hoped that the salamander research and studies of the powdered pig bladder extract will one day enable humans to also regenerate entire limbs.

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