Keeping at arm's length during regeneration

Regeneration of a lost appendage in adult amphibians and fish is a remarkable feat of developmental patterning. Although the limb or fin may be years removed from its initial creation by an embryonic primordium, the blastema that emerges at the injury site fashions a close mimic of adult form. Central to understanding these events are revealing the cellular origins of new structures, how positional identity is maintained, and the determinants for completion. Each of these topics has been advanced recently, strengthening models for how complex tissue pattern is recalled in the adult context.