Platyhelminthes

Platyhelminthes (flatworms) have captivated the imagination of biologists for centuries. Indeed, planarian flatworms were used as experimental models decades before Caenorhabditis elegans became known as ‘the worm’. Although planarians experienced a brief fall from grace, with the advent of molecular tools, planarians, such as Schmidtea mediterranea, have emerged in recent years as powerful models to study the basis of stem cell regulation and tissue regeneration. Flatworms are not just everyone's favorite experimental subjects from high school biology — they also include some of nature's most successful parasites, many of which have plagued humans throughout our history. This Primer will focus on several aspects of the remarkable biology found throughout the phylum Platyhelminthes.