From Pune’s Regenerative Flatworm Discovery To Swedish Wound-Healing Breakthrough

A year after Indian researchers declared that they had discovered a new regenerative flatworm species in Pune’s Pashan Lake, scientists at Lund University, Sweden, have claimed they have harnessed the remarkable healing potential of such worms to accelerate wound repair in human skin models.

The Swedish team has, for the first time, demonstrated that exosomes—tiny signalling molecules released by flatworms—can significantly speed up wound healing and tissue repair in laboratory-grown human skin. The findings are opening new possibilities in regenerative medicine and skin therapeutics.

The development assumes significance, as the Indian discovery itself had highlighted the extraordinary regenerative abilities of planarian worms. The species, named Dugesia punensis, was identified by PhD scholar Mithila Chinchalkar and her research guide, Ravindra Kshirsagar, from Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Ganeshkhind, Pune.

According to the Indian researchers, it was the first scientifically documented discovery of a new planarian species in India since 1983. The specimen was later deposited at the Zoological Survey of India.

Now, researchers in Sweden are taking forward the broader regenerative promise associated with such flatworms.

The research group began exploring whether the worms’ regenerative biology could be translated into therapeutic applications for human tissue healing after being approached by a Korean skincare company interested in studying Scandinavian flatworms.

“We were very surprised because we’re not a flatworm lab, but the science felt exciting—tackling an unexpected research question that no one had addressed before,” said Martin Hjort, an associate researcher in chemical biology and therapeutics at the university.

Planarian flatworms are widely known for their ability to regenerate entire body parts. Even tiny fragments of their bodies can regrow into complete organisms, making them a major focus of stem cell and regenerative biology research.

The Swedish researchers focused on exosomes—microscopic messenger packets released by cells that carry signalling molecules capable of influencing tissue repair, growth, and immune responses.

To conduct the study, researchers collected wild flatworms from ponds in Malmö using baited traps. In laboratory experiments, the worms were divided to stimulate regenerative activity and release exosomes.

The extracted exosomes were then applied to laboratory-grown human skin models commonly used in biomedical and cosmetic research.

The results, researchers said, were striking.

They observed that the treated skin became thicker and wounds healed significantly faster. Blood vessels damaged by burns also recovered more rapidly following treatment with flatworm-derived signalling molecules.

“The study suggests that signalling molecules from flatworms can accelerate the human body’s own healing processes. This is the first time anyone has shown that it is possible to use regenerative ability from a flatworm in another organism,” Hjort said.

Interestingly, the regenerative abilities observed in the Pune-discovered species had already drawn attention for their scientific potential.

“The regenerative potential of this worm is 14 days, compared to others whose regenerative span is about 18 days or more,” Chinchalkar had noted during the original discovery.

Her guide, Kshirsagar, had emphasised that studying such organisms could help scientists better understand stem cells, tissue repair, and organ regeneration.

“From the field of medicine to organ regeneration, studying these species will help us understand the mechanism behind regeneration better,” he had said.

The emerging international interest in regenerative flatworms now underlines how discoveries from biodiversity studies can eventually contribute to advances in medical science and tissue engineering.