Rapid Cellular Regeneration (Tissue Regeneration, Epithial Cell Regeneration, or Healing Factor) is the ability to regenerate at a superhumanly quick rate. One with this ability regenerates as an automatic response to injury, and the body usually repairs itself within less than a minute (though a little over a minute is not uncommon) depending on the severity of the damage done. One with this ability can also still function while vital organs are being regenerated. He can even regenerate normally-unregenerate organs or bodily materials, and may go into a healing trance if injured significantly. Sometimes the ability even results in the stunting of aging or development if the ability has to be employed too many times.
Rapid Cellular Regeneration is also a common ability that one with an Agrophysiolo
Variations:[]
Totipotency is the superhuman ability to regenerate one’s entire body back from just one part of one’s body (even as small as a cell). This ability implies that if the user was reduced to ashes/dust (by means like Vaporization or Disintegration) then the user’s psyche would only need to attune himself to one of his cells, and that cell could almost instantaneously regenerate a brand new, perfectly unharmed, healthy body for the user. The psyche would move into that body (which looks like the old body, and so it’s almost as though the user were never harmed). If the user is de-aged or shrunk, then his body can also use this ability to return to normal size. Not to mention, if a piece of the user is removed, he can use this ability to regenerate the lost body part into an entire replicate of himself (along with probably regenerating himself, as this ability is often accompanied by normal Rapid Regeneration).
Known Evolved Humans[]
- Claire Bennet naturally possesses this ability.
- Adam Monroe naturally possesses this ability.
- Peter Petrelli duplicated this ability.
- Gabriel Gray duplicated this ability.
- Arthur Petrelli stole this ability.
Potential[]
Depending on the potency of this ability they may be able to heal from any wound, be rendered immune to any ailment and survive and debilitating affect to both the mind and body, at least when employed in the one possessing the actual ability. In others, it could be the most effective when used in others who are suffering from not only issues but cure mental and physical disabilities and damage.
Limits[]
Self Regeneration[]
This ability does not move displaced parts of the body back into the correct location. After filming the videotape, Claire had to manually re-insert her displaced ribs before the flesh on her ribcage would heal, and Peter Petrelli had to manually rotate his broken foot to the correct orientation before it would heal while he was mimicking Claire's power.
Regeneration also does not work correctly if a foreign object obstructs the wound. This is especially true of foreign objects lodged in the brain. After Brody "killed" Claire, she did not begin to regenerate until the coroner removed the tree branch lodged in her brain. Peter experienced a similar situation with a piece of glass in the back of his head. This limitation is presumably related to the importance of the brain in the nature of evolved humans, as theorized by Chandra Suresh. A more graphic example of this is Future Claire's presumed death at the hands of Sylar; when Sylar removes her brain after slicing her head open, she presumably dies afterward. However, in present time Sylar not only leaves her brain in place, he claims that he cannot kill her, nor can he be killed. Despite this limitation, Claire's power can expel small objects (such as a bullet) lodged in her body as long as they are not disrupting her brain functions. However, Adam Monroe was able to completely heal from a massive explosion at Whitebeard's camp that almost certainly would have severely damaged his brain. Additionally, Adam was not able to heal immediately after experiencing the explosion, as evidenced by his charred body in the ruins of the tents.
Typically, Claire's blood does not return to its place in her body when an associated wound heals, although it can if the wound is small and her blood has not spread far from it (the only example being when her brother stapled her hand). She is consistently covered with blood following a serious injury.
As demonstrated, Claire is able to regrow body parts that have been removed. She experimented with this for the first time by cutting off her little toe with a pair of scissors, then watching it grow back with much surprise. Future Claire's arm is blown off by a grenade and she re-grows it.
Claire certainly feels her injuries—she cried out from having a staple put into her hand and winced in pain at other times—but the pain does not incapacitate her in the way it would an ordinary person. She has stated that the pain she feels from injuries diminishes very rapidly. However, since having her brain examined by Sylar, Claire has stated that she no longer feels pain of any kind.
Peter has shown that this power has the capability to reverse memory damage caused by the Haitian. However, unlike most instances of the ability's usage, memory damage reversal requires active concentration.
Adam once claimed that he could not be killed, but he has also implied that cutting off his head would kill him. Adam has told Peter that there is "no coming back" if Victoria Pratt shoots Peter's head. Noah has also stated that beheading or catastrophic brain damage would kill someone with this ability. However, Claire has had the top of her head cut off by Sylar, and lived, because as Sylar said after examining her brain, "You can never die, and now, I guess, neither can I." Additionally, users of this ability or even blood recipients are capable of recovering from damage caused to the brain: Claire and Peter started to regenerate once the foreign object was removed from their brain, and Noah, through blood transfusion, recovered from a gunshot in his head.
It's revealed that it can also heal nervous system damage. Arthur Petrelli is completely paralyzed and only able to communicate telepathically as he was poisoned by Angela in an attempt to kill him. He survived although his family was told he was dead, but had permanent damage to his nervous system that left him completely paralyzed and breathing through a tube in his throat. He absorbed Adam Monroe's regeneration power, killing Adam, but healing all of the damage done to his body by the poison.
While the ability protects an individual from infections and other pathogens, it works independently from one's immune system: when Claire was shot while her ability wasn't working, her immune system was too weak to fight off infections, leading to a system wide critical condition that lead to her death. When her ability started working again, she came back to life.
It has been proven that a bullet through the head will kill a person with this power: in order to kill Arthur who has absorbed this ability, Peter, with the help of The Haitian attempts to shoot Arthur through the head with a Company gun. Sylar stops the bullet in mid-air, but lets go when he learns the truth of his parentage. The bullet goes through Arthur's head and he is unable to regenerate and dies. This is the first character with this ability who is actually killed without being able to regenerate from a temporary death.
Anti-Aging[]
Adam Monroe lived for centuries without aging significantly. Angela Petrelli confirms that this is an effect of his ability. She tells Matthew Parkman that after a certain amount of regeneration, the body simply stops aging. After Arthur Petrelli removed this ability from him, Adam aged rapidly, crumbling to dust within a few seconds, demonstrating that without his power continually repairing age-related damage, he would quickly die.
Blood Transfusions[]
Adam Monroe was the first to demonstrate that individuals with this ability can heal others by injecting them with their own blood. So far, five characters have been healed this way: Adam's seventh wife Diane (circa 1901), Nathan Petrelli, Noah Bennet, Maya Herrera, and Sylar.
Adam injected a small amount of his blood into Nathan's intravenous drip, causing Nathan to immediately start to heal from his radiation burns. Adam did not show any worry about the possible adverse effects of mixing blood types.
Bob suggests that Claire's blood could be used to make a new cure for the Shanti Virus. Bob informs Claire that her blood could help a lot of people, and proceeds to take some of her blood. Later, Noah Bennet is resurrected using her blood after being shot and killed by Mohinder Suresh.
Mohinder Suresh is able to combine Claire's blood with the antibodies from his own to make a cure for the fortified Shanti Virus that Niki contracted. The blood combination not only healed Maya of her gunshot wound, but also cured Sylar of the virus.
Unlike Adam, a recipient of Adam's blood cannot halt the aging process indefinitely. Adam's blood cured his wife Diane of tuberculosis, but she still died "peacefully" twenty years later.