Stem Cells and Regeneration in Planarians

Regeneration of missing body parts has long fascinated biologists, yet the mechanisms underlying regenerative processes remain poorly understood.  My laboratory uses the freshwater planarian, a classic model of regeneration studies, as a model to examine the molecular mechanisms underlying regeneration.  Planarians are able to completely regenerate entire worms and form lost body parts from very small body pieces.  These organisms are endowed with a population of adult pluripotent stem cells that support their capacity for regeneration, which provides an excellent opportunity to identify genes involved in stem cell maintenance, proliferation, and differentiation. In my talk, I will briefly introduce planarians and discuss our work aimed at understanding how regeneration of specific organs is achieved in these fascinating organisms.