The Regeneration Atlas
Nature knows
more than one way
to begin again.
Eight remarkable life forms. Eight perspectives on the biology of renewal. An illustrated journey into nature’s regenerative imagination.
Eight life forms · Different biological strategies
Life holds more
than one blueprint for renewal.
A limb rebuilt. A heart repaired. A life stage revisited. Each organism reveals a different strategy for renewal—and offers researchers a distinctive way to investigate cell identity, tissue organisation and repair.
Portraits and sketches below are AI-generated editorial illustrations, not specimen photographs or experimental data. Scientific claims are linked to primary research.
01 · Turritopsis dohrnii
Jellyfish
A life stage can turn back
Under particular conditions, the medusa can return towards a polyp stage. Comparative genomics explores the pathways associated with this unusual plasticity.
The research question: Which changes in gene regulation accompany the transition between life stages, and how are they coordinated?
Read the primary study →02 · Homarus americanus
Lobster
Renewal through growth and moulting
Lobsters can replace lost appendages across moults. A classic study reported widespread telomerase activity, offering a distinct question about tissue maintenance.
The research question: How are tissue maintenance, telomerase activity and the demands of repeated growth connected?
Read the primary study →03 · Xenopus laevis
Frog
An experimental push towards limb repair
A 2022 adult-frog study used a short exposure to a five-drug treatment in a wearable bioreactor and followed regrowth and functional recovery over eighteen months.
The research question: Which early signals help an adult animal sustain a regenerative response long after the initial treatment?
Read the primary study →04 · Periplaneta americana
Cockroach
A new leg, coordinated with development
Leg regeneration in the American cockroach involves coordinated transcriptional programmes and growth across subsequent moults.
The research question: How do developmental programmes coordinate growth, form and timing across successive moults?
Read the primary study →05 · Ambystoma mexicanum
Axolotl
A limb rebuilt with positional information
Axolotls can regenerate complex limb tissues. Single-cell research helps trace how connective-tissue cells enter a regenerative blastema and rebuild structures.
The research question: How do cells retain positional information while rebuilding the right structures in the right place?
Read the primary study →06 · Danio rerio
Zebrafish
A heart with remarkable repair capacity
Classic experiments demonstrated substantial regeneration after surgical removal of part of the zebrafish ventricle, inspiring studies of cardiac repair.
The research question: What permits surviving heart cells to contribute to repair, and which signals organise the rebuilding process?
Read the primary study →
07 · Hydra
Renewal, cell by cell.
Hydra maintains cell populations through continuous stem-cell activity and can regenerate substantial body structures. A single-cell atlas mapped differentiation trajectories, giving researchers a detailed view of how its cells renew and specialise.
The research question: How does continuous stem-cell activity sustain both renewal and the diversity of specialised cells?
Read the primary study →08 · Planarian
A remarkable stem-cell system.
Planarians possess neoblasts that support extensive regeneration. Experiments showed that a single clonogenic neoblast could restore regenerative capacity in an irradiated animal.
The research question: How does a single clonogenic cell rebuild the cell populations required for extensive regeneration?
Read the primary study →What carries forward
Three questions for regenerative medicine.
Cell identity
What must the cell become?
Successful repair connects cell identity with organisation and function. Researchers ask how the right cells are formed, positioned and integrated.
Control
Where should growth stop?
Regenerative signals work within a larger system of patterning, immune responses and growth control. Understanding that coordination is a central scientific task.
Translation
Does the mechanism travel?
Conserved pathways need testing in relevant mammalian systems, followed by appropriate human studies.
By invitation
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Discover the studies, the mechanisms and the questions opening new perspectives on regenerative science.