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Why does a Hydra polyp regenerate its head in the right place?

teaser_boettgerHydra has been used for more than 270 years now to study the fascinating capacity of regenerating missing parts of the body. This phenomenon is seen in several organisms but Hydra goes one step further and is even able to regenerate a whole animal from only a cell suspension. Another intriguing observation during Hydra regeneration, is the fact that each part of the animal knows where the head and foot should be built. Taking a small part of the body will always lead to the regeneration of a complete animal with the head and foot on the side of the original ones. How does the Hydra do that? What does this information look like and how is it stored? The “heads on” students will use pharmacological inhibitors to search for new explanations to solve this fundamental problem.

For further information or to apply for the project please contact Prof. Angelika Böttger