Last year, I revisited Michael Levin's labs at the Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology for the Verge. Previously, for New Scientist, the focus was on Levin's work with frogs. For this piece, an interesting article by Arielle Duhaime-Ross, the focus was on Levin's research on memory in flatworms. Levin designed a mechanical apparatus for training flatworms to find food in a specific location and then cut off the heads of those worms. A few weeks later, after the flatworms regrew their heads, they were put into the apparatus again and those that contained parts of the trained worms could easily find the food again. The research has roots in 1950s-era science that was treated with substantial skepticism for years.

Be sure to click through to see the article at The Verge's site; it's a beautiful layout with historical images, some video of flatworms swimming, an article brimming with history and cutting edge science, and a few of my photos. You can also see more of the photos, available for licensing, at my PhotoShelter archive: Michael Levin - Tufts University - Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology

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