COULD LESSONS FROM SALAMANDERS TRANSFORM THE FUTURE OF HEALING?

The promise of regenerative medicine lies in its potential to restore tissues and heal injuries once thought untreatable. Scientists are now looking to nature for solutions, and few organisms offer more insight than salamanders. Konstantinos Sousounis, an assistant professor in the department of molecular, cellular, and biomedical sciences, is leading research into how newts, specifically the Iberian ribbed newt, regenerate eye lenses. He hopes that what he learns will further human therapies.

“Salamanders can regenerate pretty much anything — from limbs to parts of the brain and heart. We want to understand why and how they do this — and what makes them different from other vertebrates, including humans,” says Sousounis. “Our hope is to learn how we might induce human tissues to regenerate in the same way that salamanders do, particularly in areas like the retina and lens.” Ultimately, the goal is to apply Sousounis’s findings to human medicine.

Sousounis’s research is paving the way for future regenerative therapies, offering hope that one day humans could heal their own tissues just as remarkably as salamanders do.