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finding:cryptic-planaria-fragments-form-1-head-and-2-head-forms-at-a-set-frequency-of-1-2-durant-et-al-2017

Cryptic planaria fragments form 1-head and 2-head forms at a set frequency of ~1:2 (Durant et al. 2017)

Shows stochastic anatomical outcome at the individual level while all cells in a fragment agree on one morphology.

Source paper

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Collective intelligence: A unifying concept for integrating biology across scales and substrates

(2024) · Patrick McMillen · Michael Levin

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Claims (1)

claim

The randomization of bioelectric state and downstream morphogen gradients is interpreted with respect to anterior-posterior organ identity by collectives, not by individual cells.
supports
Argues that stochastic outcomes in regeneration are still collective decisions, not cellular chaos.

Communities (3)

community

Bioelectric memory & morphogenetic identity
members_of
Gap junctions and bioelectric signals encode body-plan and memory patterns across radical biological transformation.
Bioelectric control of planarian head patterning
members_of
Experimental manipulation of resting membrane potential patterns to stably alter morphogenesis (head number/location) independent of genetic sequence, primarily in Dugesia species 2011-2017.
Planaria head/tail patterning stochasticity
members_of
Durant et al. 2017 documents fixed ~1:2 frequency of 1-head vs 2-head regeneration in cryptic fragments

Concepts (1)

concept

Cryptic Planaria
supports
A bioelectrically destabilized planarian state where regeneration outcome (1 vs 2 heads) is stochastic per individual, yet all cells within the worm agree.

Related by similarity (8)

cosine ≥ 0.65 · no typed edge

Entities in the same semantic neighborhood but without a typed relation to this one — candidates for new edges or unrecognized duplicates.

Planaria permanently generate two-headed forms despite completely wild-type genetic sequence after bioelectric pattern rewriting.finding0.799
Demonstrates that anatomical outcomes can be reprogrammed at the bioelectric level independently of DNA, inverting the software/hardware metaphor
Cryptic planaria exhibit stochastic but concordant head/tail decisionsfinding0.797
Bioelectrical disruption produces planaria forming 2-head or 1-head forms at ~70-30 ratio; randomization occurs at population level, but each worm makes unified decision across all tissues.
The same wild-type genome can produce 1-, 2-, or 0-headed planaria depending on bioelectric history, showing that anatomical outcome is not directly encoded in the genome.claim0.794
Demonstrates the role of epigenetic bioelectric software.
Genetically wild-type planaria can be induced to adopt head shapes of other species by brief bioelectric modulation, crossing 100-150 My evolutionary distance in days.finding0.776
From Sullivan et al. 2016 and Emmons-Bell et al. 2015; demonstrates that large morphospace distances can be crossed by physiological manipulation.
Planarian fragments regenerate with near 100% fidelity of anatomical structurefinding0.759
Planarians cut into pieces regenerate precisely what is missing and re-scale tissue to form complete worms.
Planarian bioelectric circuits can enter a metastable cryptic state where they stochastically produce one- or two-headed worms upon each amputation, analogous to perceptual bistability.claim0.759
Links cognitive and morphogenetic dynamics.
Brief bioelectric manipulation can stably convert wild-type planaria to a two-headed target morphology that persists through regeneration.finding0.748
From Durant et al. 2017; shows bioelectric pattern memory is reprogrammable without genomic change.
Permanent two-headed planarians created by manipulating bioelectric circuits.finding0.747
From Oviedo et al. (2010) and Durant et al. (2017), shows memory of anatomical set points beyond genomic default.