The salamander-inspired therapy of regenerative medicine is quickly moving from science fiction to reality. As part of the ongoing research into regrowing body parts, Army Sgt. Shiloh Harris underwent a history-making procedure at Brook Army Medical Center that could help him regrow a finger that he lost during a bomb attack in Iraq last year.

The experimental procedure involves placing a special powder, nicknamed “pixie dust,” onto the wounded area. The pixie dust powder, which is made from pig tissue, does not regrow the tissue itself, but researchers believe that the special properties of the powder are able to convince the body’s cells to regrow the missing body parts.

The stem cells that grow into our whole body do not go away after birth. Although they stop developing, they stay in the body. The pixie dust works on a microscopic level to attract stem cells and get them to once again develop into the tissue that used to be there.

As unbelievable as it may seem, the pixie dust treatment has already been successful in regrowing a dog uterus and human bladder. In each case, the organ was grown in the laboratory and then implanted into the body. The dog went on to have puppies and the human benefitted from a bladder that worked as it should. Let’s hope that Sgt. Harris soon has a new finger.

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