Is this enough, or should we show them what's behind this door?

Too scary?

I know.

Let's close that up and open up this video with a question: What if you could regenerate like Deadpool or Wolverine? Triangle Bob volunteered to be the Deadpool dummy here.

Hey there!

Welcome to Life Noggin.

Deadpool and Wolverine have incredible healing abilities and can even regrow lost limbs overnight, making them practically immortal.

This superpower is known as a healing factor, and it's linked to their status as mutants. Before you come for me, I know that Deadpool is a mutate in the comics, but we're talking about movie Deadpool today.

And in the movies, Deadpool was born with superhuman genes that were activated with the serum.

Now, these genes accelerate the natural healing and regeneration processes present in the human body.

Yes, I mean normal, non-superhero human bodies. How do you think your skin and bones heal?

Of course, regenerating an entire organ or limb is another story, and isn't something your body does.

At least for now.

Ooh, Triangle Bob, that one looked like it hurt. Scientists have been hard at work trying to turn you normal humans into superhumans.

And while you're still a ways off from needing a super suit, they've made some pretty impressive progress.

One avenue they're exploring is the use of materials containing or mimicking the extracellular matrix found in all tissues and organs.

The ECM is essentially a scaffold that provides support and structure, but it also plays an important role in cell growth and tissue repair. Researchers are trying to accurately recreate it with biomaterials or donor organs and tissues.

They then attempt to grow new components around it using stem cells, which can develop into any type of cell.

While moving this technology into the clinic will require lots more research, scientists have already grown human hearts, lungs, and even teeth. But ECMs aren't the only way to regrow limbs.

In the animal world, where regeneration is a reality, scientists have found that some animals activate certain genes to stimulate regrowth.

Take the starfish.

Is that a starfish dressed up like Wolverine?

That's really cute, animator.

Thank you for doing that.

They not only regrow an entire body from just an arm, but a nervous system, too. Since regenerating brain cells is rare, scientists took a closer look at how it happens and discovered that injured starfish express a gene that reactivated mechanisms used during development.

Basically, cells reverted to a stem cell-like stage where they could then become brain cells.

This same gene can revert adult human cells into stem cells.

So if scientists can harness this mechanism, they could regenerate all kinds of cells. Currently, scientists can make stem cells from adult cells through a chemical process that resets their epigenetics, which are the on and off switches on the genes.

It's thought that activating these switches is what turned on Deadpool's healing factor.

But there are other ways to use genes to stimulate growth.

Different kind of genes, Grieg, but good to know you eat genes, I guess. For instance, some scientists are developing a drug that can stop a certain gene from preventing tooth growth.

And after successfully growing teeth in mice and ferrets, clinical trials are approved to begin any day now.

Another mechanism scientists are trying to harness is the body's electrical signals.

This bioelectricity is how your cells communicate, telling its neighbors to heal a wound or grow an eyeball. By controlling these signals, scientists have stimulated the growth of extra brain tissue in frog embryos, strengthened the immune system response of tadpoles, and made flatworms grow an extra head.

Okay, Animator, Triangle Bob is just a triangle at this point, so can we get him some help? While it's going to take a while before you can regrow your hand overnight, you may be a lot closer than you think.

So, which superhero movie do you think is the best out of the 692 that have been out?

Let me know in the comment section below.

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As always, my name is Blocko, this has been Life Noggin, don't forget to keep on regenerating.

Uh, thinking, sorry, thinking.