New Video - Flatworms with Healing Superpowers! (Patreon)

Planarians are tiny googly-eyed flatworms with an uncanny ability: They can regrow their entire bodies, even a new head. So how do they do it?

Other animals like starfish, salamanders and crabs can regrow a tail or a leg. Planarians, on the other hand, can regrow their entire bodies -- even their heads, which only a few animals can do.

Key to planarians’ regenerative ability are powerful cells called pluripotent stem cells, which make up one-fifth of their bodies and can grow into every new body part. Humans only have pluripotent stem cells during the embryonic stage, before birth. After that, we mostly lose our ability to sprout new organs.

“We have a couple of tissues that can regenerate, like the liver, the outer layers of the skin and the inner layers of the intestine, and the bone marrow,” said Dr. Stephen Badylak, Deputy Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. “But the way we heal most tissues is by forming scar tissue.”

Scientists hope that studying planarians could lead to treatments for humans in which our stem cells could be coaxed one day to regrow severed limbs or sick organs.

Hi there, we hope you enjoy a first look at our newest episode. You can start sharing it out if you like from YouTube on 10/23, Tuesday morning.  Thanks!