Scientists create 'IMMORTAL' mutant monsters with MULTIPLE HEADS
MUTANT many-headed “immortal” monsters have been grown in a University of Geneva laboratory in a scientific breakthrough.
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Hydras – appropriately named after mythical Greek monsters – are one of nature’s most curious creations. The minuscule freshwater animal has been dubbed “immortal” by scientists due to its uncanny ability to perfectly regenerate itself from only a minuscule part of its body. And researchers have now made the animals even more odd make forcing them to sprout fully-functional heads all over their bodies.
This is because scientists have finally figured-out regulates hydra head regeneration – with potentially profound implications for cancer research.
Simple organisms like this tell us what kind of test we can do in mammals
Body parts regeneration is a an incredible achievement, requiring animals has to reorganise its body limb-by-limb.
Although scientists held some pieces of the puzzle, such as knowing the gene Wnt3 is crucial for head growth, they were huge gaps in their knowledge.
A key area is understanding the hydra’s "off" switch, preventing growth of near-infinite heads for example.
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And University of Geneva scientists appear to have discovered what they were looking for – the seemingly simple Sp5 gene capable of halting an otherwise runaway feedback loop.
And in order to test their theory the researchers grew hydras engineered not to express the Sp5 gene.
"In 100 percent of these animals you get extra heads, which is really amazing,” said Professor Brigitte Galliota, of the University of Geneva’s genetics and evolution department.
What happens, Professor Galliot and her colleagues have today reported that without Sp5, the Wnt3 continues, sprouting heads all over the regenerating hydra’s little body.
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And these heads are totally functional, meaning they boast a nervous system, tentacles and even a working mouth.
The process, Professor Galliot said, is all about the balance between activation and repression.
And that's where things get interesting, for it appears Wnt3 is not only in such simple creatures.
Wnt3 can also be found in complex mammals, including humans.
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The gene appears to affect embryonic development, meaning understanding its function could help scientists understand what controls early human development.
Professor Galliot said Wnt3 is also a crucial driver of some sorts of cancer.
It might be that Sp5 manipulation could halt the proliferation of such cancers, she said.
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And although such medical research is a long way off, the hydra's tentacle-studded heads could point the way.
She said: "What we learn from simple organisms like this tell us what kind of test we can do in mammals to understand better. It gives us a direction.
"Regeneration of the head relies on the transformation of the stump into a tissue called the head organising centre, which has developmental properties, and like an architect, it directs the construction of the future head.”