The Hydra's Freaky Ability to Regrow Its Own Head Relies on This Incredible Mechanism - ScienceAlert

Above: Pureed hydra cells regaining form over time with new head organizer cells (blue).

If the hydra is chopped in two, anywhere along its top third, the remaining body bit will grow more organizer cells, which will then arrange a shiny new head for the animal.

To understand these mythical hydra powers, University of California biologist Aide Macias-Muñoz and colleagues took a closer look at the hydra's genetics, comparing gene expression during head regeneration and budding.

Messing with some of the regulatory genes can produce some bizarre results, like multiple head organizers along the hydra's body.

"Even though the result is the same (a hydra head), gene expression is much more variable during regeneration.

Many of these 2,870 regions of the genome – identified as being 'in use' within the organizer cells during head regeneration – include enhancer genes, whose products help drive other developmental processes.