Lizard tail may hold key to regrowing human organs

​Washington: Scientists have for the first time identified genetic switches that are linked to regeneration of tails in lizards, a finding that may be key to regrowing muscles, cartilage and spinal columns in humans.

Lizards are known to be able to drop their tails off to avoid capture, but how they regrow a new tail has remained a mystery. Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Arizona State University (ASU) in the US identified three tiny RNA switches, known as microRNAs - which turn genes on and off - that are associated with the regeneration of tails in the green anole lizard, Anolis carolinensis.

Using next-generation genomic and computer analysis, scientists hope their findings will help lead to discoveries of new therapeutic approaches to switch on regeneration genes in humans.

"Since microRNAs are able to control a large number of genes at the same time, like an orchestra conductor leading the musicians, we hypothesised that they had to play a role in regeneration," said Kenro Kusumi, a professor at ASU.