Paligenosis: prepare to regenerate!

Tissue injury can stimulate quiescent cells to proliferate, resulting in metaplasia, to rapidly replace damaged cells and enable regeneration. A new study describes how fully differentiated cells return to proliferation in an autophagy- and mTORC1-dependent manner. Given the striking parallels between this process in mammalian stomach and pancreas, a new term, paligenosis, is proposed for this conserved program.