Not all models walk on a runway.
Researchers around the world use model organisms to study and conduct
experiments on. A model organism is simple, easy to manipulate, easy to
access, and its basic biology is understood. Several model organisms
exist, such as Escherichia coli (bacteria) and Drosophila melanogaster
(fruit fly). One model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans, is particularly
useful to researchers.
C.
elegans is a soil nematode with all the right characteristics. It is
transparent, so all of its organs and cells can be clearly seen through a
microscope. Every individual has the exact same number of cells (959), a
condition known as eutely, which is an advantage when conducting
research on cell development. The worm is small, between 1 and 1.5mm
long, which means that it is as long as a dime is thick. Its small size
means that thousands of worms can be housed and fed on a petri dish.
This makes it significantly easier to work with than other organisms,
such as mice and chimps, which require large cages and significant
amounts of food.
The life cycle of C. elegans is three days,
which makes it easy to create many generations in a short period of
time. The length of the life cycle can also be manipulated by changing
the ambient temperature. This small worm has two sexes: hermaphrodites
and males; it can self-fertilize or cross-fertilize, giving researchers
more options in breeding. The entire genome of C. elegans is very small,
6 pairs of chromosomes, and has been entirely sequenced and made
available on the internet (wormbase.org and ncbi.gov). This allows
researchers to study its genome and compare it to other organisms’
genomes. Finally, because it is a worm, its use in research does not
create as many ethical and moral issues as the use of larger animals
does.
C. elegans may be a small worm, but in laboratories around the world, it’s a supermodel.
Photo courtesy of:
http://blog.neuinfo.org/
Sources:
http://www.wormbase.org/
http://www.wormclassroom.org/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
http://www.wormclassroom.org/
Not all models walk on a runway.
Researchers around the world use model organisms to study and conduct experiments on. A model organism is simple, easy to manipulate, easy to access, and its basic biology is understood. Several model organisms exist, such as Escherichia coli (bacteria) and Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly). One model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans, is particularly useful to researchers.
C. elegans is a soil nematode with all the right characteristics. It is transparent, so all of its organs and cells can be clearly seen through a microscope. Every individual has the exact same number of cells (959), a condition known as eutely, which is an advantage when conducting research on cell development. The worm is small, between 1 and 1.5mm long, which means that it is as long as a dime is thick. Its small size means that thousands of worms can be housed and fed on a petri dish. This makes it significantly easier to work with than other organisms, such as mice and chimps, which require large cages and significant amounts of food.
The life cycle of C. elegans is three days, which makes it easy to create many generations in a short period of time. The length of the life cycle can also be manipulated by changing the ambient temperature. This small worm has two sexes: hermaphrodites and males; it can self-fertilize or cross-fertilize, giving researchers more options in breeding. The entire genome of C. elegans is very small, 6 pairs of chromosomes, and has been entirely sequenced and made available on the internet (wormbase.org and ncbi.gov). This allows researchers to study its genome and compare it to other organisms’ genomes. Finally, because it is a worm, its use in research does not create as many ethical and moral issues as the use of larger animals does.
C. elegans may be a small worm, but in laboratories around the world, it’s a supermodel.
Photo courtesy of:
http://blog.neuinfo.org/
Sources:
http://www.wormbase.org/
http://www.wormclassroom.org/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
http://www.wormclassroom.org/
Researchers around the world use model organisms to study and conduct experiments on. A model organism is simple, easy to manipulate, easy to access, and its basic biology is understood. Several model organisms exist, such as Escherichia coli (bacteria) and Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly). One model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans, is particularly useful to researchers.
C. elegans is a soil nematode with all the right characteristics. It is transparent, so all of its organs and cells can be clearly seen through a microscope. Every individual has the exact same number of cells (959), a condition known as eutely, which is an advantage when conducting research on cell development. The worm is small, between 1 and 1.5mm long, which means that it is as long as a dime is thick. Its small size means that thousands of worms can be housed and fed on a petri dish. This makes it significantly easier to work with than other organisms, such as mice and chimps, which require large cages and significant amounts of food.
The life cycle of C. elegans is three days, which makes it easy to create many generations in a short period of time. The length of the life cycle can also be manipulated by changing the ambient temperature. This small worm has two sexes: hermaphrodites and males; it can self-fertilize or cross-fertilize, giving researchers more options in breeding. The entire genome of C. elegans is very small, 6 pairs of chromosomes, and has been entirely sequenced and made available on the internet (wormbase.org and ncbi.gov). This allows researchers to study its genome and compare it to other organisms’ genomes. Finally, because it is a worm, its use in research does not create as many ethical and moral issues as the use of larger animals does.
C. elegans may be a small worm, but in laboratories around the world, it’s a supermodel.
Photo courtesy of:
http://blog.neuinfo.org/
Sources:
http://www.wormbase.org/
http://www.wormclassroom.org/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
http://www.wormclassroom.org/
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