"When exposed to light planarians display a distinctive light avoidance behavior known as negative phototaxis. Such behavior is temporarily suppressed when animals are decapitated, and it is restored once the animals regenerate their heads."
I dunno, I just find reading that kind of disturbing. Then again, I haven't been sleeping much lately so it could just be me...
(Here's the full article if you are are interested).
Also, for the record, no planarians were harmed in my experiment. I actually have a reputation for being the humane student of the group because I refused to cut my planarians' heads in half to try to get them to demonstrate regeneration. Granted, their nervous system is much, much simpler than ours, but they do seem to react to having their heads cut in half so why do it? I mean, I don't know what it feels like to them and there is no way I ever will and to do that just for a few points extra credit does not seem like an ethical decision to me.
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1 comment:
I think a lot of stuff that goes on in the classroom regarding animals is uncalled for. If you are not in med school or vet school you do not need to disect or kill them or regenerate them. There are plenty of computer programs and graphics out there to show everyone something as clear as the real thing
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