Flatworms are dorsoventrally flattened, bilaterally symmetrical invertebrates of the phylum Platyhelminthes, widely used as model organisms in developmental biology, regeneration research, and parasitology. They possess a triploblastic, acoelomate body plan with no specialized circulatory or respiratory systems, relying on diffusion across a high surface-area epithelium. Many free-living species, such as planarians, exhibit remarkable regenerative capacity mediated by pluripotent neoblasts, making them central to stem cell and patterning studies. Parasitic flatworms, including trematodes and cestodes, are major subjects in host–parasite interaction, immunomodulation, and disease transmission research, particularly in the context of neglected tropical diseases.
A new Yale study of roundworms, a species with the unique ability to regenerate, reveals that disruptions in the body's internal map of cellular organization may play a part in age-related decline.
Cell & Microbiology
13 hours ago
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New evidence suggests that a disease-causing tapeworm that has been spreading across the United States and Canada has arrived in the Pacific Northwest. The tapeworm, called Echinococcus multilocularis, lives as a parasite ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 6, 2026
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Marine animals, such as the extremely simple flatworm Trichoplax, are ideal model organisms for studying the early evolutionary origins of animal life processes. Despite measuring only a few millimeters and lacking true organs ...
Evolution
Feb 11, 2026
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A study published in the journal PeerJ, conducted by a researcher from the Institute of Systematics, Evolution and Biodiversity (ISYEB) at the French National Museum of Natural History, in collaboration with a researcher ...
Ecology
Feb 10, 2026
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The microscopic flatworm (Stenostomum brevipharyngium) is one of nature's weirder creatures. Chop off its head, and it'll grow one back. Cut it in half, and it'll become two separate healthy worms. And now scientists have ...
