Regeneration is one of the great mysteries of biology. Planarians are flatworms capable of
dramatic feats of regeneration, which have been studied for over 2 centuries. Recent …

Gene silencing through sequence-specific targeting of mRNAs by RNAi has enabled
genome-wide functional screens in cultured cells and in vivo in model organisms. These …

INTRODUCTION Understanding the differentiation of stem cells into the vast amount of cell
types that form the human body is a central problem of basic and medical science. The …

INTRODUCTION The complete sequence of animal genomes has had a transformative
impact on biological research. Whereas the genome sequence of an organism contains the …

Proliferating cells known as neoblasts include pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) that sustain
tissue homeostasis and regeneration of lost body parts in planarians. However, the lack of …

Planarians are members of the Platyhelminthes (flatworms). These animals have evolved a
remarkable stem cell system. A single pluripotent adult stem cell type (“neoblast”) gives rise …

RNA-fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a powerful tool to visualize target
messenger RNA transcripts in cultured cells, tissue sections or whole-mount preparations …

Abstract Background The freshwater planarian Schmidtea mediterranea has emerged as a
powerful model for studies of regenerative, stem cell, and germ cell biology. Whole-mount in …

Background The ability to assess gene function is essential for understanding biological
processes. Currently, RNA interference (RNAi) is the only technique available to assess …

Planarian whole-body regeneration is enabled by stem cells called neoblasts. At least some
neoblasts are individually pluripotent. Neoblasts are also heterogeneous, with …