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| Subject: Caenorhabditis elegans Sat Jan 17, 2009 8:07 pm | |
| Caenorhabditis elegans is a microscopic (~1 mm) nematode (roundworm) that normally lives in soil. It has become one of the "model" organisms in biology because:
* It is a true animal with at least rudiments of the physiological systems - feeding, nervous, muscle, reproductive - found in "higher" animals like mice and humans. * But it is so small that large numbers can be raised in petri dishes (where it is fed E. coli - another model organism). * It reproduces rapidly. * It is transparent so that every cell in the living animal can be seen under the microscope from the fertilized egg to the o 556 cells of the newly-hatched worm and, later, o the 959 somatic cells, and a variable number of germ cells, of the adult worm. * It can be easily transformed with transgenes - DNA injected into the animal. * It can also be treated with antisense RNA. * Before it dies (after 2-3 weeks), it shows signs of aging and thus may provide general clues as to the aging process. Read more ..........>> | |
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