TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese researchers have shown that a species of sea snail is capable of decapitating themselves and regrowing their bodies, a discovery that could have implications for regenerative medicine
The mechanism is believed to be an extreme method for the organism to rid itself of parasites, researchers Sayaka Mitoh and Yoichi Yusa wrote in a study published this week in Current Biology. The green snails have algae cells in their skin, so they can feed on light like a plant until they develop a new body, which takes about 20 days.
Mitoh, a doctoral researcher at Nara Women’s University, noticed one day that a sea slug, known as a sacoglossan, had spontaneously detached its head from its body.
“I was surprised and thought he was going to die, but he kept moving and ate quite energetically,” said Mitoh. “I watched it for a while, and it regenerated his heart and body.”
That led to a study showing that five of 15 lab-bred slugs and one from the wild split off its body from some point on the neck during their lifetime. One did that twice. Each time, the animal’s heart remained in the body, which lived for a while, but did not regain a head.
“One of the amazing things about stem cells is that they can be used to regenerate a heart and body from the edge of the animal’s head,” said Mitoh. “With further research, we may be able to apply these findings to regenerative medicine, but that’s a distant hope at this stage.”
Other animals have been known to intentionally detach and regrow body parts, a mechanism known as autotomy, but this extreme form was previously unknown, the researchers said.
They initially thought it might be a method of escaping predators, but they now think it is done to get rid of parasites that inhibit reproduction.
Reporting by Rikako Murayama and Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by Karishma Singh