Mystery of Planarian Worm Regeneration Finally Solved by AI - Page 56

C2 Proficiency · Open Cloze · Ready for C2 Proficiency Workbook, Macmillan

For questions 1–8, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only one word in each space. There is an example at the beginning.

Planarian worms are simple-looking organisms with a bizarre trait that (0) ___ long baffled scientists: the ability to regenerate after (1) ___ dissected. Slice them lengthwise or diagonally, chop them up into hundreds of pieces, and each fragment will simply regrow (2) ___ a new worm. The phenomenon has been documented for hundreds of years, but quite how it works, in (3) ___ of the chemical processes triggered by the worm's DNA and RNA, has been (4) ___ the wit of history's greatest scientists … until recently. Now, a team of computer scientists has used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to untangle what's (5) ___ on. Amazingly, the AI algorithm took only three days to solve the problem, but admittedly the researchers had been beavering (6) ___ on their algorithm for years beforehand. The research is more than just mere satisfaction of intellectual curiosity; (7) ___ medical practitioners able to regenerate missing body parts in humans at will, it would have profound implications for all of us. More generally, the research highlights the potential of AI to solve the unsolvable, suggesting we're (8) ___ the brink of countless incredible discoveries.

Mystery of planarian worm regeneration finally solved by AI

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