Salamanders are a biological miracle: they are the only vertebrates that can regenerate entire limbs, a capacity for healing unmatched in the animal kingdom. Lizards can grow new tails, and human children can regrow the tips of their fingers, but only the salamander can cook up perfect shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands from scratch.
And it’s a perfect mystery how they do it. If we only understood how their cells do this wonderful thing, what else would we know about biology and healing? How would it change health care? Our ignorance and our potential are dizzying.
The salamander’s talent is an ideal symbol for what therapists do: for how much there is to learn, and for learning itself, the regeneration of our minds if not our limbs!
Why a salamander?
Salamanders are a biological miracle: they are the only vertebrates that can regenerate entire limbs, a capacity for healing unmatched in the animal kingdom. Lizards can grow new tails, and human children can regrow the tips of their fingers, but only the salamander can cook up perfect shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands from scratch.
And it’s a perfect mystery how they do it. If we only understood how their cells do this wonderful thing, what else would we know about biology and healing? How would it change health care? Our ignorance and our potential are dizzying.
The salamander’s talent is an ideal symbol for what therapists do: for how much there is to learn, and for learning itself, the regeneration of our minds if not our limbs!