Becker investigated the question of how fracture healing occurred in frogs by studying the morphological changes that occurred in cells at injury sites in relation to measured electrical changes. The results convinced him that, during healing, some cells in the vicinity of the injury became transformed into stem cells—a process known as dedifferentiation—as a consequence of electrical signals that originated in the nervous system. This controversial phenomenon became an important focus in Becker’s pursuit of the larger question of regeneration in animals and in humans. In 1972 he electrically stimulated partial limb regeneration in a mammal, the rat, and discovered that salamanders could spontaneously regenerate heart muscle and recover function after the heart had been cut open. His ideas and experimental approach were generally not pursued in other laboratories, where a more biochemically oriented approach was favored, although there were exceptions.

In the late 1970s, newspaper and magazine articles raised public interest in Becker’s approach to regeneration research. He received indications of support from the head of the Veterans Administration, a congressman, and two US senators. But fierce opposition ultimately blocked funding of his regeneration program, except for an international conference on regeneration that he organized.