One small worm. Many big questions.

In the Benham-Pyle Laboratory, we aim to build an innovative, interdisciplinary, and accomplished team of scientists that address big questions in developmental and regenerative biology. We leverage the remarkable biology of the planarian flatworm, Schmidtea mediterranea, to study stem cells, regeneration, aging, and cancer prevention. We use methods from genomics and fluorescence microscopy to illuminate how cell types across an animal coordinate tissue function and prevent disease after injury.

Regenerating planarian fragments only 1 millimeter in diameter arrayed next to a US penny. The penny's diameter is 20 to 30 times larger than the regenerating fragments.
fluorescence images of different cells types and tissues in the planarian body plan
Fluorescent images of wound induced transcriptional states. some are close to the wound site in the cut tail fragment, while others are spread through the planarian gut.
Regeneration time course 1 to 7 days post regeneration, imaging either the planarian central nervous system or the planarian intestine. Both tissues rescale and remodel over one week to fit the smaller, regenerated body plan.
Regeneration time course showing planarian stem cell in yellow and mitotic cells in magenta. at early timepoints during regeneration, stem cells are densely packed near the wound and there are large numbers of mitotic cells. At later timepoints, stem

To learn more about funded projects in the lab… Check out our research page.