Flatworm could facilitate research on easing Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

A regenerative flatworm could play a role in developing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Con Moran, a student at Coláiste Choilm, Ballincollig, Co Cork, spent the last five years examining a marine flatworm called Symsagittfera roscoffensis and the algae, Tetraselmis convoltuae, that it assimilates into its cells, giving it a green colour. Its common name in the Channel Islands is the ‘mint sauce worm’.

Con, 18, who is competing for tonight’s crown in the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition at the RDS in Dublin, looked at the nervous system of the 15mm worm and found it exhibits functional behaviours that can be measured and analysed so it has potential in neuroscience.