Open AccessThe history and enduring contributions of planarians to the study of animal regeneration
Author(s) -
Elliott Sarah A.,
Sánchez Alvarado Alejandro
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
wiley interdisciplinary reviews: developmental biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.779
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1759-7692
pISSN - 1759-7684
DOI - 10.1002/wdev.82
Subject(s) - planarian , regeneration (biology) , context (archaeology) , flourishing , biology , planaria , evolutionary biology , environmental ethics , zoology , microbiology and biotechnology , psychology , paleontology , philosophy , psychotherapist
Having an almost unlimited capacity to regenerate tissues lost to age and injury, planarians have long fascinated naturalists. In the Western hemisphere alone, their documented history spans more than 200 years. Planarians were described in the early 19th century as being ‘immortal under the edge of the knife’, and initial investigation of these remarkable animals was significantly influenced by studies of regeneration in other organisms and from the flourishing field of experimental embryology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This review strives to place the study of planarian regeneration into a broader historical context by focusing on the significance and evolution of knowledge in this field. It also synthesizes our current molecular understanding of the mechanisms of planarian regeneration uncovered since this animal's relatively recent entrance into the molecular‐genetic age. WIREs Dev Biol 2013, 2:301–326. doi: 10.1002/wdev.82 This article is categorized under: Adult Stem Cells, Tissue Renewal, and Regeneration > Tissue Stem Cells and Niches Adult Stem Cells, Tissue Renewal, and Regeneration > Regeneration Adult Stem Cells, Tissue Renewal, and Regeneration > Environmental Control of Stem Cells Comparative Development and Evolution > Model Systems