Caenorhabditis elegans

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About Caenorhabditis elegans:

It is a nematode worm which is a small, relatively simple, and precisely structured organism.
C. elegans grows within 3-5 days from a fertilised egg to a millimetre-long adult, and it has informed profound insights into thae human body, as well as biology.
It is widely used in research to understand neuronal and molecular biology.
It was the first multicellular organism to have its full genome sequenced and neural wiring mapped.
It has two sexes—a hermaphrodite and a male.
- The hermaphrodite can be viewed most simply as a female that produces a limited number of sperm: she can reproduce either by self-fertilization, using her own sperm, or by cross-fertilization after transfer of male sperm by mating.
- Self-fertilization allows a single heterozygous worm to produce homozygous progeny.

What are Nematodes?

These are any worm of the phylum Nematoda.
These are among the most abundant animals on Earth.
They occur as parasites in animals and plants or as free-living forms in soil, fresh water, marine environments, and even such unusual places as vinegar, beer malts, and water-filled cracks deep within Earth’s crust.
Features
- Nematodes are bilaterally symmetrical, elongate, and usually tapered at both ends.
- Some species possess a pseudocoel, a fluid-filled body cavity between the digestive tract and the body wall.

Q1: What is Molecular Biology?

It is the field of biology that studies the composition, structure and interactions of cellular molecules – such as nucleic acids and proteins – that carry out the biological processes essential for the cell’s functions and maintenance.

News: How the microscopic worm C. elegans won 4 Nobel Prizes