A flatworm transposon improves regeneration

A Cell paper finds a transposon can protect stem cells from stress-induced death, complicating the usual junk DNA and inflammation framing

For decades, transposons have been dismissed as a type of “junk” that causes aging & inflammation A fascinating new paper shows a flatworm transposon can improve regeneration by protecting stem cells from stress-induced death Could this b
Ranked #10 on backlist 2026-05-13 (13 May 2026 UTC) · by (David Sinclair) ·

How it ranks: Backlist reads my Twitter/X timeline, scores every tweet for substance with an LLM rubric (not engagement), and publishes the daily top picks with a one-line takeaway. Curated by Surya Dantuluri.