THE NEW GENOMIC WORLD OF WILD WORMS

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Caenorhabditis elegans, affectionately referred to as “the worm,” is one of the prettiest and most informative of the model organisms. It is see-through, has a simple lifecycle and a remarkably simple anatomy, and it has been the foundation for many major discoveries. Indeed the worm —in collaboration with outstanding human scientists— has won several Nobel prizes. However, C. elegans is also just one of perhaps a million species of nematodes found in every habitat on earth. It provides only a single anecdotal example of how to be a nematode, how a cooperating group of genes can produce a successful organism, and how altering those genes can disrupt this success.

 

As Theodosius Dobzhansky said, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” [1], and it is clear that C. elegans will only be fully understood when it is placed in an evolutionary context. At GSA’s recent 20th International C. elegans Meeting in Los Angeles, a breakout workshop met to discuss progress in developing and exploiting the richness of (and excitement about) those species most closely related to C. elegans.