July Slugs and Steins with Assistant Professor Aide Macias-Munoz

Unlocking the blueprint for regeneration: Insights from Hydra

Regeneration, the ability to heal and regrow lost body parts, varies across species, tissues, and even cell types. To harness regenerative ability for medicine, we need to understand the genetic mechanisms that are similar across regenerating species. My lab uses Hydra, a small freshwater relative of jellyfish, to investigate how the genome controls this extraordinary process. Hydra possess remarkable regenerative abilities, including the capacity to regenerate head and foot when cut in half and to rebuild a complete animal from clusters of cells. By studying gene expression and gene regulation during regeneration, we aim to identify the genetic programs that drive this process. In this talk, I will discuss what Hydra can teach us about the evolution and genetic basis of regeneration.

Aide Macias-Muñoz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Santa Cruz. Her research seeks to understand how complex traits, including regeneration and eyes, have evolved across animals. She is particularly interested in deciphering whether similar or different genes are used to encode these traits in different species. She holds a B.A. in Integrative Biology with a minor in Chicana/o Studies from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine.

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