Research at the University of Calgary says reindeer could hold the key to regenerative healing in humans and other animals.
A study from researchers at the school of veterinary medicine was published this month in the journal Cell.
It explains how reindeer, also known as caribou, can help to better understand tissue regeneration and suggests scar-free healing in humans could soon be possible.
Jeff Biernaskie, a professor of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at the university, says deer are the only animals that can regenerate an entire organ as an adult.
And he says their antlers grow back quickly.
Biernaskie says it got the researchers thinking that the school's herd of reindeer could be used to study skin regeneration.
The researchers learned a lot and now hope that information can be used to develop treatments for patients with burns or wounds from surgery.