The DNA switch for whole-body regeneration
Some animals can regenerate after being cut off. For example, if a salamander’s leg is removed, it will regrow. Some geckos will drop their tails to distract a predator and then regrow them.
Some animals go even further. After being cut in two, planarian worms and jellyfish can regenerate their whole bodies.
A team of scientists led by Mansi Srivastava (assistant professor of Organismic Evolutionary Biology) sheds new light on the way animals achieve this feat. They have also discovered a number DNA switches which appear to control genes that are responsible for regeneration of the whole body. A paper published in Science on March 15 describes the study.
Source:
https://www.technologynetworks.com/genomics/news/a-dna-switch-for-whole-body-regeneration-316855
