Cambridge, Massachusetts — At Harvard, a team of researchers is studying the axolotl, the salamander with the superpower to regrow body parts.
“And we want to find out the secrets, like, the actual, molecular secrets of how they regenerate limbs,” Jessica Whited, an assistant professor of stem cell and regenerative biology at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, which leads the research, told CBS News.
The “hope someday,” Whited explains, is that the research will lead them to learn more about potential limb regeneration in humans.
However, that hope faded a few months ago when her team lost almost all its government funding.
It was a dark time until the day a donor stepped forward.
“It definitely had a positive effect on everyone in the lab,” Whited said. “Everybody was just flabbergasted.”
They were flabbergasted not by the size of the donation, but rather, the size of the donor: 6-year-old Marianne Cullen of Springfield, Massachusetts, who is obsessed with the axolotls.
“There’s more to them than just being cute,” Marianne told CBS News. “They can grow back any limb… And there’s way other animals that need saving, but this one is my destiny to save.”
Marianne’s mother, Kathleen Cullen, says her daughter “took it kind of to the next level, honestly.”
“She said, ‘I want to raise money for axolotls,'” Marianne’s father, Robert Cullen, added.
So, to support conservation and research, Marianne built a PowerPoint presentation and held a fundraiser, raising about $1,000 for Whited’s lab.
“Not a lot of people get how important it is to save this animal,” Marianne said when asked why she felt it was her responsibility to do so.
Federal courts have since reinstated the funding for Whited’s lab, but it is unclear if the rulings will stand.
But regardless, Whited said Marianne’s contribution will always keep her going.
“Sometimes you know who’s fighting for you in life, and sometimes you don’t,” Whited said. “And that’s always the time when you’re just like, pause and be like, ‘Wow.'”
