Overview

• Led by Dr Santosh Chauhan in Hyderabad, the work from the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology is published in the EMBO Journal.
• Experiments showed the phenomenon sped up healing of skin wounds and repaired corneal burns in mice.
• The team also observed stimulated tail regrowth in frog tadpoles, improved nerve repair in worms, and increased blood stem-cell production in fruit flies.
• Researchers say the process mimics developmental programs and reactivates metabolic and immune pathways to restore full cellular function.
• They warn that cancer drug screens may misread cells as dead even if they later revive with stem-like traits, and they have filed Indian and international patents.