(June 5, 2015) An
artificial intelligence system has for the first time reverse-engineered the
regeneration mechanism of planaria—the small worms whose extraordinary power to
regrow body parts has made them a research model in human regenerative
medicine.
The discovery by Tufts University biologists presents the
first model of regeneration discovered by a non-human intelligence and the
first comprehensive model of planarian regeneration, which had eluded human
scientists for over 100 years. The work, published in the June 4, 2015, issue
of PLOS Computational Biology, demonstrates how "robot science" can
help human scientists in the future.