Natures wonders: Hydra regenerates (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, August 21, 2021, 15:06 (979 days ago) @ David Turell

Dissemble it and it regenerates:

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/373/6557/867.1

"The humble Hydra holds an unusual superpower. If it is disassembled experimentally, its cells will reassemble correctly to form a complete organism. Three days after disaggregation, the reassembled Hydra recovers synchronized neuronal activity and rebuilds normal neuronal networks. Lovas and Yuste show how the neural net reforms from its individual pieces. The disaggregated neurons first resume firing and then grow neurites as they build small, local connections. These neuronal ensembles then connect into midsized modules as the initially hierarchical network transitions into more distributed structure. Network synchronization emerges as the connections consolidate. Although at first, highly connected nodes carry most of the network traffic, further refinement adds smaller nodes. As the circuits mature, the input of individual neurons shifts and a resilient distributed network reemerges."

Comment: Each cell has to carry all the information needed.