A team of international researchers suggests that tissue regeneration may be more widespread in mammals than previously believed. 

In a study on a group of African rodents called brush-furred mice, it was discovered that they could regrow musculoskeletal tissue instead of healing injuries with scar tissue. Brush-furred mice are part of the deomyinae subfamily of rodents, of which there are 42 species. 

According to the University of Kentucky, this is also the case for spiny mice, another species in the deomyinae subfamily, which can regrow lost skin, restore function to a severed spinal cord and repair damaged heart tissue. 

This is unlike nondeomyinae rodents, which are found to heal injuries via fibrotic repair with scar tissue.  

In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), the researchers stated, “These data reveal a phylogenetic signal for enhanced regenerative ability in deomyinae which is key to testing evolutionary hypotheses about the emergence of regenerative ability in mammals.” 

Of note, Stephen Kiama, Ph.D., who took part in the research, said, “This study provides yet another animal model for scar-free wound healing.” 

Fellow researcher Ashley W. Seifert, Ph.D, added, “Importantly, this study provides the foundation to test the degree to which specific cellular, genetic and physiological features are or are not correlated with regenerative ability, which will pave the way for subsequent studies.”