Reddien Lab

Axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum) are a critically endangered species of salamander. They are also highly regenerative. The latest story in our Unusual Labmates series explores these fascinating creatures, what Whitehead Institute researchers are hoping to discover by studying them, and why they are worth preserving in the wild. Click here to view the full multimedia story.

Despite their distinct evolutionary histories, different species can sometimes arrive at similar solutions for survival. The work of various researchers at Whitehead Institute investigates this fascinating phenomenon, called convergent evolution, through the lens of shared mechanisms governing reproduction, development, and regeneration across a range of species.

First-of-its-kind study uses MERFISH to map the spatial pattern of how stem cells choose their fates during adult regeneration in flatworms.

The Pew Charitable Trusts has selected Whitehead Institute Member Siniša Hrvatin to be a 2023 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, and the Pew Latin American Fellows Program in the Biomedical Sciences has selected postdoctoral associate Luiza de Oliveira Saad to receive two years of funding to conduct research.

Whitehead Institute researchers are making discoveries that are helping us rethink what we know about the brain and paving the way for therapies to treat some of the most challenging brain disorders and diseases.

Read about brain-related research at Whitehead Institute.

Planarians, a type of aquatic flatworm, are a super regenerator, able to restore their bodies by growing back anything from an eye or a tail to a head. Whitehead Institute Member Peter Reddien seeks to understand how planarians are able to regenerate so effectively.

Research from Whitehead Institute Member Peter Reddien’s lab identifies a gene expressed in the skin that covers a wound as essential for regeneration to occur after large injuries in planarians.