Abstract
A popular topic as of late, stem cell research has intrigued many with its remarkable potential in the realm of human health. Multipotent stem cells have been found throughout the entire human body, indicating that adult tissues may be able to repair and regenerate themselves. Although organs such as the heart, liver, or lungs do not currently regenerate in humans, the presence of these somatic stem cells indicates that we possess the necessary structures to do so. By studying the axolotl, a species of salamander known to effectively regenerate limbs and organs, scientists have come closer to understanding human regeneration. After various studies performed on the axolotl, results have indicated that limb regeneration occurs in a step-wise fashion, in which certain qualifications must be met to progress to the next step. This is groundbreaking because the lack of human regeneration can be attributed to the absence of a correct preliminary environment, not in our sheer inability to do so. If we can determine the factors that influence each individual step of limb regeneration, we could theoretically micromanage regenerating environments to provide the exact outcome we desire.Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Journal under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (linked here). By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are available for wide dissemination at no cost to readers, with proper attribution (acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal), in educational and other non-commercial settings. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository, in a journal or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal. However, for undergraduates authoring a manuscript under the guidance of a faculty member or research mentor, we strongly encourage the student to discuss with the faculty mentor and the Editor if prior publication in the Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Journal will constrain future publication efforts in professional journals. To this end, all authors must submit a signed mentor consent form at the time of submission..