Sault researcher leads team that regrew frog limbs

A Sault Ste. Marie researcher is getting the nod for her contributions to ground-breaking research in the world of regenerative medicine.

Nirosha Murugan, who is now an assistant professor at Algoma University, led the team of researchers at Tufts University and Harvard to discover a regenerative process to regrow new limbs on frogs.

"We wanted to use a model system that had a strong analogy to humans and so we picked frogs for that same reason, which is that tadpoles and embryos in humans, we have some capacity for regeneration and we lose it into adulthood," Murugan said.

A five-drug-cocktail silicone cap was put over the wounds of frogs for a 24-hour treatment period.

Murugan said the goal was to eliminate the process of scarring, which is how humans and frogs heal from wounds but is also what stops the regenerative process.

After 18 months, she said the frogs regrew functional limbs with nerves, muscles, bones and even things that resembled toes.

"Technology like this and other 'smart bandages,' is what we're calling it, are new directions and new advancements to minimizing pain associated with limb loss and actually regrowing the limb after it has been lost," she said.

Murugan is hopeful that within our lifetime this technology can be used to treat humans who have lost limbs, but said more research and work are needed before we get there.