Over the past century, evidence has emerged that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs)
have an impact on reproductive health. An increased frequency of reproductive disorders …

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 …

Sponges (Porifera) are among the earliest evolving metazoans. Their filter-feeding body
plan based on choanocyte chambers organized into a complex aquiferous system is so …

Germ cells are the special cells in the body that undergo meiosis to generate gametes and
subsequently entire new organisms after fertilization, a process that continues generation …

Parasitic diseases have a devastating, long-term impact on human health, welfare and food
production worldwide. More than two billion people are infected with geohelminths …

The germline of multicellular animals is segregated from somatic tissues, which is an
essential developmental process for the next generation. Although certain ecdysozoans and …

In animals, stem cell populations of varying potency facilitate regeneration and tissue
homeostasis. Notably, germline stem cells in both vertebrates and invertebrates express …

Sturgeons are the most primitive, endangered groups of vertebrates on the planet and often
referred to as 'living fossils'. Their natural populations are decreasing due to habitat …

Planarians are capable of profound regenerative feats dependent upon a population of self-
renewing adult stem cells called neoblasts. The key features of neoblasts are their capacity …

Background It is believed that in tapeworms a separate population of undifferentiated cells,
the germinative cells, is the only source of cell proliferation throughout the life cycle (similar …