Stanford researchers decode an ancient, extraordinary animal

Almost eight years ago, Stanford University bioengineer Manu Prakash was looking for a way to watch every cell in an adult living, behaving animal in elaborate detail. He searched the catalog of life and happened upon a simple marine animal called Trichoplax adhaerens – or Tplax, as Prakash has come to call it. Read the Stanford News story: “Ultrafast epithelial contractions provide insights into contraction speed limits and tissue integrity,“ Shahaf Armon, Matthew Storm Bull, Andres Aranda-Diaz, and Manu Prakash: Music: “Eternity“ by Stellardrone: Stanford News: Stanford University: Stanford University Channel on YouTube: