Do Claimed

Superfoods
Promote Tissue
Growth in
Planarian
By: Anna Behrman and Kayla
Pintro
 Background Information
● Planarian can regrow most body parts

● Planarian are freshwater invertebrates

● There are many superfoods that claim to

promote tissue growth

● Planarian are carnivores

● Planarian have a feeding tube called a

pharynx

Planarian before being cut

 Literature Review
● JNK Controls the Onset of Mitosis in Planarian Stem Cells
and Triggers Apoptotic Cell Death Required for
Regeneration and Remodeling by Almuedo-Castillo M,
Crespo X, Seebeck F, Bartscherer K, Salò E, Adell T in PLoS
Genetics
● The evaluation of the activity of medicinal remedies of
plant and animal origin on the regeneration of
earthworms’ tail segments by Bybin, V.A. and Stom, D.I. in
by Pharmacognosy Research
● Feedback control in planarian stem cell systems by
Mangel, M., Bonsall, M.B., and Aboobaker, A. in BMC Systems
Biology
● Guarana Provides Additional Simulation over Caffeine
Alone in the Planarian Model by Moustakas D, Mezzio M,
Rodriguez BR, Constable MA, Mulligan ME, Voura EB in PLOS
ONE
● The Effect of Perfluorooctanoic Acid on the Planarian
Dugesia japonica by Yuan,Z., Zhang*,J., Zhang,Y., Zhen,H.,
Sun,Y. In International Journal of Molecular Sciences
 Hypothesis and Variables
If planarian regenerated at a faster rate
then the superfood tomato will be
responsible

Independent: superfood used

Dependent: whether or not cells

regenerate faster

Constant: water, planaria type, area

Black Bean after 72 hours

 Procedure
1. Petri dishes labeled

2. Cut superfoods

3. Place planaria on ice

4. Cut in half

5. One half is a constant

6. Observe every 12 hours

Planarian after being cut

 Data and Results
Planaraian Label: After 24 hours After 48 hours After 72 hours

Black Bean Alive beginning to grow back Alive almost fully grown Fully grown back
back

Black Bean Constant Alive beginning to grow back Dead Dead

Tomato Disintegrated Disintegrated Disintegrated

Tomato Constant Alive beginning to grow back Alive almost fully grown Fully grown back
back

Soy Sauce Dead Dead Dead

Soy Sauce Constant Disintegrated Disintegrated Disintegrated

Broccoli Disintegrated Disintegrated Disintegrated

Broccoli Constant Disintegrated Disintegrated Disintegrated

All Dead Dead Dead

All Constant Alive beginning to grow back Dead Dead

 Data and Results
Food Alive Dead Faster Regeneration

Black Bean x - -

Tomato - x -

Soy - x -

Broccoli - x -

All - x -

Table Key:
X= how planarian resulted at the end of experiment
- =how planarian didn’t result at the end of experiment
 Sources of Error
● Soy was hypertonic

○ High sodium content

● Disintegration

● Carnivores

● Weight of food

Broccoli constant planarian beginning disintegration

 Thank You!
We would like to thank all of our teachers and parents who helped us to get here!