BBC reported that Lee Spiviak, 69, lost an inch and a half of a finger when it the propeller of a model airplane cut it off. Spiviak's brother works with Dr. Stephen Badylak, the inventor of the powder, called extra cellular matrix, at the University of Pennsylvania, and they sent the powder to Spiviak, who said he saw results immediately after using the powder, which he liked to call pixie-dust.
The powder is derived from the cells on the lining of pigs' bladders, and works by tricking the cells in humans that would usually scar to instead generate new growth.
Spiviak told BBC that it only took four weeks to re-grow the finger, and by four months his entire fingernail had grown in. He said he has complete movement and feeling in the finger.
Spiviak said in a televised interview, "I only have one problem. The fingernail grows so fast I have to cut it every two days."
Researchers are hopeful that the powder can be used for severe burn victims and to regenerate growth in those with organ damage.
Skeptics wonder if perhaps the bone or nail were not affected when the finger was sliced off, in which case the finger has natural regenerating capabilities. They would like to see Badylak's research published in a peer-reviewed article rather than just hearing the anecdotal story of Spiviak.
