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Study Finds Severed Sea Cucumber Tissue Regenerates for Three Years

6/3/2026

Summary

Jobson Uncovers Regeneration

Sara Jobson, a student at Memorial University of Newfoundland, led a study that found severed Psolus fabricii tissue survived three years in seawater.
Researchers placed tube-foot, tentacle and body fragments in seawater, where wounds sealed in days and the tissue grew by absorbing dissolved nutrients.
Without a mouth, the explants absorbed amino acids, recycled muscle, kept dividing cells and showing immune activity, but never formed new organisms, suggesting regenerative-medicine potential.

Summary

Bodnar Advances LiPfe

Psolus fabricii explants avoid vertebrate animal-research regulations because the invertebrate species is not covered.
The tissue thrives in unfiltered seawater, letting labs maintain cultures without sterile facilities or specialized media, expanding access for low-resource institutions.
Researchers named the model LiPfe after trials showed other sea-cucumber explants died within 3.5 months, prompting Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute director Andrea Bodnar to promote its use for education and to call for stronger ocean-habitat protection.

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Jobson Uncovers Regeneration

Sara Jobson, a student at Memorial University of Newfoundland, led a study that found severed Psolus fabricii tissue survived three years in seawater.
Researchers placed tube-foot, tentacle and body fragments in seawater, where wounds sealed in days and the tissue grew by absorbing dissolved nutrients.
Without a mouth, the explants absorbed amino acids, recycled muscle, kept dividing cells and showing immune activity, but never formed new organisms, suggesting regenerative-medicine potential.

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