Humans Have Salamander-like Ability to Regrow Cartilage in Joints

Ava Chiang 

10/17/19

AP Biology 

Current Event Review #5

Duke University Medical Center. “Humans Have Salamander-like Ability to Regrow Cartilage in Joints.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 9 Oct. 2019, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191009142852.htm. 

The article “Humans Have Salamander-like Ability to Regrow Cartilage in Joints” published by Science Daily gets its source from Duke Medical Center, a prestigious institute. The researchers of this program had found a way to determine the age of proteins in joints by “using internal molecular clocks integral to amino acids, which convert one form to another with predictable regularity.” This is because newly formed protein in tissues have less amino acid conversions than older proteins. This enabled researchers to “ use sensitive mass spectrometry to identify when key proteins in human cartilage” which they separated into three categories: young, middle-aged, and old. Through this new development, researchers have found out that the age of cartilage differs due to the area its located. The ankle joints are classified as young, the knee joints are middle-aged, and the hip joint are old; which explains why hip injuries are the hardest to recover from. This mechanism for cartilage repair is due to molecules called microRNA that regulates this process. It is found in animals famous for their regenerative abilities such as lizards and zebrafish, but it was only recently that humans are found to have this type of molecules. Lead author and researcher Ming-Feng Hsueh Ph.D. and a professor in the departments of Medicine, Pathology and Orthopedic Surgery at Duke calls this “our 'inner salamander' capacity.”

Osteoporosis is a very common chronic and incurable disease that is a condition in which bones become weak, brittle, and prone to fracture. It is the most common joint disease in the world along with arthritis, tennis elbow, dysplasia, and others. Joint diseases are often chronic and plague many people around the world, both young and old, especially athletes or people who play sports often. Most joint diseases are believed to be incurable but if the researchers at Duke are able to utilize the research and microRNA to create treatments for joint diseases, it would help millions of people around the world. In addition, microRNA molecules and regenerative abilities are present in many other animals including but not limited to salamanders and lizards. Biologists can also look into the genetic similarities between these animals and humans. 

This article was well-written with clear subtopics and many quotes from researchers that are part of this project, adds to its credibility. It also explains the cartilage regrowing ability very well and goes over all the specifics. However, the article doesn’t say why this human ability to regrow cartilage wasn’t discovered before.I don’t know if its because of technology, funding, or lack interest, and I wished the article would have included this. A main topic of this article was the possibility of using microRNA to provide treatments for chronic and incurable joint illnesses such as osteoporosis. Yet again, the article doesn’t go into the details and explain the ways this technology could be applied. This article was very informative and I learned a lot from it but I wished it wouldn't mention some topics then gloss over it.