Salamanders and fish can regenerate lost structures - why can't we?

The recent introduction of in vivo lineage-tracing techniques using fluorescently labeled cells challenged the long-standing view that complete dedifferentiation is a major force driving vertebrate tissue regeneration. The report in BMC Developmental Biology by Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte and colleagues adds a new twist to a rapidly evolving view of the origin of blastemal cells. As classic and recent experimental findings are considered together, a new perspective on vertebrate muscle regeneration is emerging. See research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-213X/12/9