Double-stranded RNA specifically disrupts gene expression during planarian regeneration

Metazoan regeneration is one of the least understood fundamental problems of biology. The lack of progress in understanding this phenomenon at the molecular level has been due to the poor regenerative abilities of the genetic organisms used for developmental studies, as well as the difficulties encountered with molecular and genetic manipulations of the commonly studied vertebrate models (the urodele amphibians). Here, we demonstrate that introduction of double-stranded RNA selectively abrogates gene function in planarians, a classic model of regeneration. The ability to eliminate gene function in a regenerating organism such as the planarian overcomes previous experimental limitations and opens the study of animal regeneration to unprecedented levels of molecular detail.