Re: Shuttle's Worms Found Thriving in Debris

[Barry Cooper <bjc3 at cornell_edu>]

At 05:17 PM 5/2/2003 +0000, you wrote:
> Does anyone know what these worms are?  C. elegans
> http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20030428/shuttleworm.html
> They seem to be very durable, they survived the shuttle crash.
>
> Drummond Howard
> Gaithersburg, Maryland


Caenorhabditis elegans, a small worm extensively used in research in 
genetics and development. They are the organism in which the basic 
mechanisms of apoptosis, or so-called "programmed cell death" were worked 
out. This came about because someone became curious about the fact that 
during development of these worms, exactly 131 cells die while 959 survive. 
The genes responsible for this precise process have been identified and 
also are present in humans and others animals, although they are much more 
complex.

The worms are about 1 mm in size, similar to microworms. Culture is quite 
complex, at least in the lab and would not be practical for a hobbyist. I 
would stick with microworms and vinegar eels.

Barry


Barry J. Cooper, Prof. Emeritus, Dept. Biomedical Sciences, Cornell University
Adjunct faculty, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University
Home address: 27505 Riggs Hill Rd., Sweet Home, OR 97386 (bjc3 at cornell_edu)


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