How hydras know where to regrow lost body parts
Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - 14:01
in Biology & Nature
Few animals can match the humble hydra's resilience. The small, tentacled freshwater animals can be literally shredded into pieces and regrow into healthy animals. A new study suggests that pieces of hydras have structural memory that helps them shape their new body plan according to the pattern inherited by the animal's 'skeleton.' Previously, scientists thought that only chemical signals told a hydra where its heads and/or feet should form.