Organs 'have minds of their own' when growing, scientists discover

The scientists made their discovery after studying the eyes of ants

A giant ant scurries across an enclosure in Paris (ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images)

British scientists have discovered that organs may have 'minds of their own,' by growing at different rates as body sizes change.

A team of researchers from the University of Sussex revealed in a study published in Biology Letters that different animal organs, and even different parts of a single organ, can change sizes at different rates.

To make their discovery, they studied the eyes of 66 different ants of varying sizes. As the ants' body sizes changed, parts of their eyes increased or decreased in size, sometimes at varying rates.

As the study says, the team demonstrated that "different regions within a single organ can use different rules to govern their scaling, responding differently to their developmental environment."

Sussex University's Dr Jeremy Niven, who worked on the study, explained: "Scientists have been trying to understand how organs reach the right size in our bodies since the beginning of the last century."

"Scaling within organs still remains poorly understood. But our results show the first time that when the size of our bodies change, the different regions and cells within our organs respond in more diverse ways than previously thought."

The researchers believe their study provides a foundation for future investigations into organ growth, and said a better understanding of the subject is vital to ensuring animals remain healthy.