Planarian stem cells

Difficulty of experimental accessing makes in vivo stem cell studies not easy in mammals and model systems with regenerative capability represent an alternative for the characterization of stem cell-specific genes. Planarians retain a population of pluripotent stem cells, the neoblasts, throughout their adult life. Neoblasts can be selectively destroyed by X-ray allowing us to compare stem cell-less organisms with wild-type worms. We have undertaken a genomic approach producing an Keywords: X-ray, dose response, stem cells, stress response