Reddien Lab

In planarians, muscle is critical not only for movement and regeneration of body parts, but also for producing the body’s architectural support system around cells

Ashley Bonneau is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Peter Reddien’s lab investigating signaling pathways involved in embryonic development and tissue regeneration. We sat down with Bonneau to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Biological program triggered by large injuries not required for regeneration, Whitehead Institute team finds

Researchers at Whitehead Institute have uncovered a framework for regeneration that may explain and predict how stem cells in adult, regenerating tissue determine where to form replacement structures.

Whitehead Member Peter Reddien pinpoints distinct muscle subsets that orchestrate and pattern regrowth

Whitehead Member Peter Reddien has determined that a major function of muscle in planaria and acoels--a small regenerative marine worm auspiciously located on the evolutionary tree as an outgroup to all the rest of the Bilateria--is to serve as the source of instructive positional information for instructing regeneration.

By investigating regeneration in planarian flatworms, Whitehead Institute researchers have identified a mechanism—involving the interplay of two wound-induced genes—by which the animal can distinguish between wounds that require regeneration and those that do not.

By studying the planarian flatworm, a master of regenerating missing tissue and repairing wounds, the lab of Whitehead Institute Member Peter Reddien has identified an unexpected source of position instruction: the muscle cells in the planarian body wall. This is the first time that such a positional control system has been identified in adult regenerative animals.