Enhanced detail can be discerned by using fluorescent proteins to tag proteins or subcellular compartments ( Figure 1D). elegans is transparent, individual cells and subcellular details are easily visualized using Nomarski (differential interferenceĬontrast, DIC) optics ( Figure 1C). A compound or confocal microscope allows observation at much finer resolution ( Figure 1C), permitting researchers to perform experiments that address questions related to cell development and function at single-cell To observe worms on Petri dishes ( Figure 1, A and B) as they move, eat, develop, mate, and lay eggs (for movies showing these features, see ). Up to 100X magnification, or compound microscopes, which allow up to 1000X magnification. Their small size means that the animals are usually observed with either dissecting microscopes, which generally allow Newly hatched larvae are 0.25 millimeters long and adults are 1 millimeter elegans research articles published each year for the last 5 years.Ĭaenorhabditis elegans is a tiny, free-living nematode found worldwide. elegans is actively studied in over a thousand laboratories worldwide ( with over 1200 C. elegans as the focus of his efforts because the elegans strain grew better than the briggsae isolate in Brenner's laboratory ( Félix 2008). Later, he settled on the related nematode C. With the simplicity and power of prokaryotic genetics in mind, he proposed that a nematode (round worm), Caenorhabditis briggsae, would be an ideal system in which to tackle these problems.
Solved in the next decade” and proposing that the future of molecular biology lies in the extension to other fields, “notablyĭevelopment and the nervous system” ( Brenner 1988 Brenner 2002). In 1963, Sydney Brenner sent a letter to Max Perutz, the chairman of the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecularīiology (LMB), detailing his concerns that the “classical problems of molecular biology have either been solved or will be elegans nematodes Primer single-cell analysis transparent genetic system elegans useful not only in research laboratories, but also in the classroom where it can be used to excite students who actuallyĬan see what is happening inside live cells and tissues. Of the entire organism and at the level of the single, identified cell. elegans has been the ability to address biological problems genetically, using both forward and reverse genetics, both at the level
We survey the basic anatomical features, common technical approaches, and importantĭiscoveries in C. The organism and the many features that make it an outstanding experimental system, including its small size, rapid life cycle,
elegans has also become an important organism in which to study processes that go awry in human diseases. Of eukaryotic cells, host-parasite interactions, and evolution. elegans has expanded to explore a wealth of diverse areas in modern biology including studies of the basic functions and interactions A little over 50 years ago, Sydney Brenner had the foresight to develop the nematode (round worm) Caenorhabditis elegans as a genetic model for understanding questions of developmental biology and neurobiology.