Axe-a-lotl

Cute, harmless and a little mysterious, axolotls, found natively in Mexico, are spreading in popularity around the world. Here researchers prepare to repeatedly cut their feet off. This drastic experiment reveals clues about the axolotls’ remarkable secret – they can completely regenerate their limbs. But how do their cells 'know' how to rebuild in the limb after amputation? By artificially labelling cells at the front (purple) or back (green) of the regrowing limb, the team investigate a sort of cellular 'memory' governing how some of the cells develop. Altering some of the proteins responsible allows the researchers to reprogram cells and change their developing patterns. Looking for similar proteins in human cells may one day help to trigger cellular memories and guide development in tissue engineering projects.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image from work by L. Otsuki and colleagues
• Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna, Austria
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Nature, May 2025