The man who grew a finger

[Anna]

There's video at the link but I haven't watched it because it might be icky. Who was it who said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic?

"I put my finger in," Mr Spievak says, pointing towards the propeller of a model airplane, "and that's when I sliced my finger off."

It took the end right off, down to the bone, about half an inch.

"We don't know where the piece went."

The photos of his severed finger tip are pretty graphic. You can understand why doctors said he'd lost it for good.

Today though, you wouldn't know it. Mr Spievak, who is 69 years old, shows off his finger, and it's all there, tissue, nerves, nail, skin, even his finger print.

'Pixie dust'

How? Well that's the truly remarkable part. It wasn't a transplant. Mr Spievak re-grew his finger tip. He used a powder - or pixie dust as he sometimes refers to it while telling his story.

Mr Speivak's brother Alan - who was working in the field of regenerative medicine - sent him the powder.

For ten days Mr Spievak put a little on his finger.

"The second time I put it on I 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."

Now he says he has "complete feeling, complete movement."

[cgallery]

Wow, seems almost too good to be true. Like, a hoax. Or that he is overstating how much finger was removed (I watched the movie and it is hard to confirm he lost 1/2").

[cabinetman]

I watched the video, and it's not that yucky. "Pixie dust"...uh huh. Makes one wonder why someone would stick their finger in a running prop. It's a good thing he decided to use his finger. The regeneration thing does sound interesting. I can say from experience that having an incident like that is more painful after the fact just thinking about it.

About 30 years ago I chewed off the tip of my thumb with a router. I stuck all the loose pieces back together like a puzzle, and it all grew in without the "pixie dust".
.

[cgallery]

It's a good thing he decided to use his finger..

Wait, are you saying this is going to be some sort of male enhancement powder? Cut off an inch, grow three back?

[Ed62]

Wait, are you saying this is going to be some sort of male enhancement powder? Cut off an inch, grow three back?

You cut off an inch. Let us know what happens.

Ed

[cgallery]

You cut off an inch. Let us know what happens.

Ed

Well, I could cut off 18 inches, what's your point?

Can I have a rim shot Smitty?

[LinuxRandal]

Heck, I just lay around for a whole year, after being cut down there. What a worthless newborn I was!

[MilDoc]

Well ... not really. He didn't "regrow" anything. He had, from the pictures, a simple transverse amputation of the very tip of his finger. Common injury actually. The pictures on the web show no evidence of loss of bone, nerve or tendon material, but regeneration and repair of skin - which is exactly what the fingertip does. I would have expected the same "regeneration" with minimal treatment. Shoot, I've seen the same injury in several kids myself. You can easily lose up to 1 cm or so of your fingertip and have it grow back. No "pixie dust" needed. Also turns out the "dust" was recommended by his surgeon brother, the founder of the firm that makes the powder. Nice way to get free advertising.