Tuesday, May 26, 2026 | 2 a.m.
Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.
Regeneration has agelong been the worldly of subject fiction. At UNLV, researchers are present studying frogs that tin regrow their eyes successful days — enactment that could bring that thought person to world for quality patients.
Leading that effort is Kelly Ai-Sun Tseng, a prof successful UNLV’s School of Life Sciences, whose laboratory is focused connected knowing however earthy regeneration works astatine a cardinal level. By studying taxon similar the African clawed frog, Tseng and her squad purpose to place the biologic processes down insubstantial repair and use those findings to mammalian studies — with the semipermanent extremity of processing therapies that could assistance reconstruct imaginativeness successful humans.
“We request to recognize the cardinal processes of however earthy regeneration occurs and … tin usage this cognition to construe that into mammalian studies, and past hopefully to quality therapeutics to beforehand regeneration and repair,” Tseng said.
Tseng came to UNLV successful 2012 and is starring the complaint connected processing the region’s archetypal laboratory programme dedicated to probe connected compartment regeneration.
Her past acquisition includes studying tadpoles’ quality to regrow their tails and what signals trigger regeneration.
Humans deficiency the quality to regenerate, but assorted bug and carnal taxon — similar worms, lizards, zebrafish, axolotl and the Xenopus laevis, oregon African clawed frog — regrow assemblage parts crossed each stages of their lives .
The African clawed frog is an aquatic taxon autochthonal to parts of Africa, wherever they similar to walk their clip feeding and reproducing successful stagnant waters.
Males measurement astir 2 ounces and are 2 to 2.5 inches long, portion females measurement astir 7 ounces and are 4 to 4.5 inches long, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
These frogs are considered a classical biomedical probe taxon owed to their familial similarity to humans, and they service arsenic an established exemplary for their regenerative abilities, Tseng said.
As larvae, the frogs tin regenerate arms and legs, parts of their encephalon and adjacent their optic nerves each the mode done adulthood.
After moving to Las Vegas from Cambridge, Mass., wherever she earned her doctorate astatine Harvard University, Tseng wanted to proceed her postdoctoral probe connected whether antithetic organs tin beryllium stimulated with akin biologic signals to regenerate.
That yet led Tseng and her teams to look astatine the oculus specifically, which “is a precise important organ,” but “also precise easy accessible and, successful frogs, a batch already is known astir however the oculus usually develops,” Tseng said.
When archetypal observations recovered that frog larvae tin regrow their eyes, astir of Tseng’s clip successful the laboratory was spent documenting however they regenerate to recognize the biologic mechanisms of the cell.
It lone took astir 5 days for the oculus to turn backmost — indistinguishable from its original, uninjured eye, said Tseng.
To Tseng’s knowledge, the UNLV laboratory is the archetypal to survey this oculus regeneration exemplary — a improvement Tseng’s researchers astatine UNLV observed, characterized and established.
“We person eyeglasses that assistance america spot better, and past we person cataract surgeries that truly assistance america spot better, but 1 of the things we can’t bash is regenerate our eyes if they get damaged, but they’re moving connected it,” UNLV Interim President Chris Heavey said of the project. “Amazing, (the) adjacent procreation of improvement oregon innovations that volition thrust quality wellness.”
A vessel with 4 African clawed frogs sits connected a array wrong the Tseng Laboratory, surrounded by ample models of eyes, informational posters, microscopes and assorted frog stickers, plushies, keychains and magnets.
The animals person been cared for by Tseng and her squad of postgraduate and undergraduate researchers, similar Jose Guerra, 23, who graduated from UNLV successful the winter; second-year doctoral pupil Madison Frederick, 26; and Belen Gutierrez, 24, a third-year doctoral student.
Guerra and Gutierrez joined Tseng’s laboratory squad arsenic undergraduates astatine UNLV, with Guerra looking to marque a quality successful the satellite done probe portion Gutierrez grew up with an involvement successful the tract of regeneration.
Frederick joined 2 years agone erstwhile she began her doctoral studies astatine UNLV and recovered Tseng’s programme — which matched with Frederick’s erstwhile acquisition studying neurodegenerative diseases.
The 3 students enactment connected assorted projects wrong the laboratory that each subordinate backmost to the four-legged amphibians.
Guerra is becoming a pioneer successful an emerging tract astatine the intersection of biology and quantum physics by studying however quantum effects — similar magnetic fields — tin impact regeneration and insubstantial growth.
Identifying the types of stem cells that are capable to regenerate is Frederick’s job, which she does utilizing peculiar fluorescent proteins, a method she said “is truly absorbing and specified a spot of our model.”
Gutierrez uses micro-CT scanning to nutrient 3D renderings of the African clawed frogs’ eyes truthful she tin analyse the operation and however those are affected by the regeneration process. She besides works with machine modeling systems to nutrient akin images that assistance the researchers get a amended presumption of the oculus operation and its signifier passim the regeneration process.
Tseng explained that scientists indispensable archetypal recognize the cardinal process of however earthy regeneration occurs. Then, she said, they tin statesman processing regenerative therapies for humans. The semipermanent extremity is translating their existent probe into mammalian studies and, eventually, quality therapeutics.
But it’s each starting with identifying stem cells driving regeneration and knowing molecular properties and however they interaction different tissues.
For the students, the acquisition is besides a mode to broaden their horizons and correspond UNLV.
The 3 students and others who person worked nether Tseng person attended conferences, presented their research, networked astatine conferences extracurricular of UNLV and won awards for their work.
Gutierrez said she wasn’t told successful precocious schoolhouse that doing probe was a viable vocation determination and didn’t deliberation she’d beryllium studying frogs successful her future. But she loves it truthful overmuch that she’s decided to enactment arsenic agelong arsenic she can.
Guerra, who said “it’s truly chill to beryllium connected the frontier of science,” plans to prosecute a postgraduate grade astatine UNLV, arsenic well, and proceed moving with Tseng.
“I consciousness truly grateful conscionable to beryllium successful postgraduate school,” Frederick said. “I truly emotion that our probe has the imaginable to person a batch of impact, like, we’re studying thing that tin truly marque a quality successful people’s lives, and that we’re studying thing truthful novel. Our lab’s the archetypal to qualify this, truthful each time you benignant of get to spot thing that possibly nary one’s seen before, and that’s specified a truly chill accidental to have.”
English (US)·