four damaged and undamaged drosophila wings

Fruit fly study reveals a gene’s hidden ability to keep regrowth on the right track

Regeneration, the ability to heal damaged or lost tissues, is both everyday and a real life superpower. Health research inspired by the remarkable regeneration of animals like starfish or the salamanders axolotls asks how future therapeutics could promote the regrowth of hard-to-heal tissues, limbs...
Drosophila wing courtesy of the Smith-Bolton lab

Researchers identify key regulators underlying regeneration in Drosophila

Some animals possess the remarkable ability to regenerate lost structures, exemplified by a lizard regrowing its tail. However, this regenerative process must be tightly regulated by the body to ensure proper tissue organization and to prevent abnormal growths, such as cancer. Yet, the precise...
Alokananda Ray, a postdoctoral researcher in the Li lab (left) with Xin Li, an assistant professor of cell and developmental biology.

Researchers investigate neuron differentiation in fruit fly brains

The brains of all higher order animals are filled with a diverse array of neuron types, with specific shapes and functions. Yet, when these brains form during embryonic development, there is initially only a small pool of cell types to work with. So how do neurons diversify over the embryo’s...