Ohio Man Gets The Finger

Ohio, America, 69 year-old Lee Spievak was working behind the counter of the hobby shop which is more of a hobby to him than work.

When he got too close to a propeller of a model airplane, and sliced the top of his finger off, down to the bone, about half an inch. The tip flew off and was never found.

Mr Speivak's brother Alan who was working in the field of regenerative medicine as a mad scientist sent him some powder to put a little on each day for 10 days.

The second time Mr Speivak put it on he already could see growth. Each day it was up further.

Finally it closed up and was a finger.

"It took about four weeks before it was sealed" he said.

Now he has complete feeling and complete movement.

The "pixie dust" comes from the University of Pittsburgh, though in the lab Dr Stephen Badylak prefers to call it extra cellular matrix.

The process he has been pioneering over the last few years involves scraping the cells from the lining of a pig's bladder.

The remaining tissue is then placed into acid, "cleaned" of all cells, and dried out.

It can be turned into sheets, or a powder.

"There are all sorts of signals in the body," explains Dr Badylak.
"We have got signals that are good for forming scar, and others that are good for regenerating tissues.

"One way to think about these matrices is that we have taken out many of the stimuli for scar tissue formation and left those signals that were always there anyway for constructive remodelling."

In other words when the extra cellular matrix is put on a wound, scientists believe it stimulates cells in the tissue to grow rather than scar.

It is hoped that within the next 10 years it can be used to re-grow severely burnt skin, or even damaged organs even bones, and the growth of functional tissue around those bones. And that is a major step towards eventually doing the entire limb.

The US military is very interested in the powder for wounded veterans, this also gives bald and circumcised men hope to become normal in the near future.

Famous magazine owner Hugh Heffner is thought to be working with the University of Pittsburgh on a trial basis to keep him young and virile and sexually active and snorts the white powder off a mirrored table every day according sources at the Playboy mansion.