CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have discovered a gene that determines whether flatworms generate a new head or a new tail.
Planarian flatworm regeneration had long puzzled scientists but Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists led by Assistant Professor Peter Reddien have discovered the gene that's required for the phenomenon.
"Evolution has selected for mechanisms that allow organisms to accomplish incredible feats of regeneration," and planaria offer a dramatic example, Reddien said. "By developing this model system to explore the molecular underpinnings of regeneration, we now have a better understanding of … the process."
The researchers used a technique called RNA interference to screen a group of genes known to be involved in animal development.
"We discovered that inhibiting the gene Smed-beta-catenin-1 caused animals to regenerate a head instead of a tail at the site of the wound," said postdoctoral researcher Christian Petersen, lead author of the study. "This resulted in a worm that possessed two oppositely facing heads. Smed-beta-catenin-1 is the first gene found to be required for this regeneration polarity."
The study appeared in the Dec. 6 online issue of the journal Science.
