(quirky electronic music)

I've got an experiment for you.

First, take a limb

any of your limbs.

Second, cut it off.

Third, profit?

Actually, our lawyers would probably

appreciate it if I said that that

is, in fact, not a good idea at all.

It's just a thought experiment to get

you thinking about the axolotl,

an incredible salamander that can regrow entire lost limbs.

So, what's so special about the axolotl?

Well, as it turns out,

nothing really.

We have the same genes that the salamander has

because long, long ago we shared

a common ancestor that had them.

Our problem is we don't use these genes

the same way the axolotl does.

So, we scar.

You see, healing is a complicated process.

Certain steps have to happen in the right order,

in order to scar, or regenerate.

When our wounds heal,

it actually begins with a little bit of regeneration,

but early on we take a different path,

and scar instead.

The axolotl is the opposite.

It begins with a little bit of scarring,

but its genes work in such a way

that eventually leads to full-tilt regeneration.

If you're thinking, hey if we have the same genes

why don't we hack our bodies to regenerate instead of scar?

Well, scientists are way ahead of you.

Biologist David Gardiner,

of the University of California Irvine, for instance,

runs an axolotl lab,

and thinks we absolutely one day will

unlock the salamander's secrets,

and apply them to ourselves.

It wasn't that long ago,

20 years ago,

people would say, we'll do you really

think this is gonna happen?

And here we are 20 years later,

and the most common question that

I get asked is, when is it gonna happen?

It's like almost everybody has already

accepted that regeneration will happen someday.

Why not now?

What's taking so long?

What can we do to make it happen sooner?

That's a complete mind shift.

It gets weirder still.

What if science can figure out

how to not only grow back a limb,

but to grow it back better?

What if I get those muscles I've always wanted?

(quirky electronic music)