The sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, an emerging model for biomedical research: Mechano-sensitivity, extreme regeneration and longevity

Nematostella has fascinating features such as whole-body regeneration, the absence of signs of aging and importantly, the absence of age-related diseases. Easy to culture and spawn, this little sea anemone in spite of its simple aspect, displays interesting morphological characteristics similar to vertebrates and an unexpected similarity in gene content/genome organization. Importantly, the scientific community working on Nematostella is developing a variety of functional genomics tools that enable scientists to use this anemone in the field of regenerative medicine, longevity and mecano-sensory diseases. As a complementary research model to vertebrates, this marine invertebrate is emerging and promising to dig deeper into those fields of research in an integrative manner (entire organism) and provides new opportunities for scientists to lift specific barriers that can be encountered with other commonly used animal models.

Automated summary

Nematostella, with its unique features of whole-body regeneration, absence of aging signs, and lack of age-related diseases, is a promising research model in regenerative medicine, longevity, and mecano-sensory diseases. It provides new opportunities for scientists to explore these fields in an integrative manner as a complementary model to vertebrates.