Grow Worms

Tapeworms that can grow over six metres inside us are the stuff of horror films. But they present an intriguing mystery as well. Their speed of growth is remarkable, and comes even as they regularly shed body segments. This growth is driven by pools of stem cells – starter cells with limitless developmental potential, highlighted in the worms pictured. These super efficient stem cell stores’ tricks might be useful for scientists using similar cells to develop new treatments for many diseases. To investigate, researchers studied a rat tapeworm, and found the neck to be the main point of growth. Two particular genes take charge, but are also active elsewhere in the body, showing that the environment in the neck is key to their particular regenerative behaviour. This may point to a new target for tapeworm treatments, and understanding how different environments impact stem cells is key to ultimately harnessing their power.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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• Image from work by Tania Rozario and colleagues
• Morgridge Institute for Research, Madison, WI, USA
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, September 2019