Zebrafish regenerate throughout life
Zebrafish regenerate fins, heart tissue and retina throughout adult life.
Regenerative medicine
The biology of regeneration.
Why can some organisms regrow damaged tissue while adult mammals largely cannot? That question drives our research.
Active researchNot a therapy
How we label evidence
Evidence, clearly labelled.
Every claim on this page sits in one of three categories. Filter the claims to see which is which.
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Established: supported by the published scientific literature -
Established: supported by the published scientific literature Axolotls regrow limbs
Axolotls can regrow entire limbs and parts of the central nervous system.
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Established: supported by the published scientific literature Müller glia respond differently
In zebrafish, Müller glia can re-enter the cell cycle and generate new neurons. In mammals, this response is much more limited.
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Established: supported by the published scientific literature A jellyfish that reverses its life cycle
Turritopsis dohrnii can revert from its adult medusa stage to an earlier polyp stage under certain conditions, although it can still die.
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Proposed: a framework or hypothesis Dimzang is proposing and investigating The mammalian gap is about conditions
Adult mammals retain some of the same cell types found in strong regenerators. We propose studying the biological conditions that may explain why they rarely mount a regenerative response.
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Unvalidated: hypothetical, requires experimental validation Could those conditions be changed?
Whether those conditions could be changed to restore regenerative capacity in adult mammals is an open question that requires experimental validation.
What nature shows us
Learning from regenerators.
Pick an organism to see what it can regenerate.
Zebrafish
Regenerate fins, heart tissue and retina throughout adult life.
Axolotl
Can regrow entire limbs and parts of the central nervous system.
Müller glia
Retinal support cells. In zebrafish they can re-enter the cell cycle and generate new neurons; in mammals this response is much more limited. Our first research output focuses here.
Turritopsis dohrnii
The “immortal jellyfish” (Turritopsis dohrnii) can reverse its life cycle, reverting from its adult medusa stage through an intermediate cyst-like stage to an earlier polyp stage. During this process, cellular transdifferentiation and tissue reorganisation help the organism return to an earlier developmental stage. This remarkable ability gives it the potential for biological immortality, although it remains vulnerable to predation, disease and other causes of death.
Illustrations are artistic, not anatomical drawings. Each organism has its own page with a closer look.
The mammalian gap
Same cells. Different response.
Adult mammals retain some of the same cell types found in strong regenerators, yet rarely mount a regenerative response. We study the biological conditions that may explain that gap.
Proposed: a framework or hypothesis Dimzang is proposing and investigating| Zebrafish | Adult mammal | |
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| Müller glia present | Yes | Yes |
| Re-enter the cell cycle and make new neurons | Yes | Much more limited |
PreprintIn preparation
Müller glia regeneration.
Our first major research output: a research framework on the regenerative capacity of Müller glia. It will be posted as a preprint, not a peer-reviewed publication, and listed in the research archive once posted.
- Research question
- Why the Müller glia response differs between strong regenerators and adult mammals.
- Status
- In preparation
Looking ahead
Future directions.
Cellular identity
How cells change state and respond to injury during recovery.
From observation to testing
The intended progression of our research, from hypothesis to clinical trials. Hypothesis and in silico work are current; the later stages are planned, not completed. Each step is a gate.
- HypothesisCurrent
- In silicoCurrent
- In vitroPlanned
- In vivoPlanned
- Clinical trialsPlanned
Research this with us.
We collaborate with researchers on regenerative biology and computational health questions.