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Hist Philos Life Sci,
2000]
The transformation of embryology to developmental biology has been linked to the introduction of experimental approaches from molecular genetics to the study of development. This paper pursues this theme by analyzing the tools molecular biologists, moving from phage and bacterial genetics to the study of development in higher organisms, brought to their new field of investigations. The paper focuses on Sydney Brenner's move from molecular genetics to developmental biology. His attempt to turn the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans into a new tool for the study of development included a vast and ever expanding mapping program. Worm workers themselves did not distinguish sharply between mapping on the cellular, chromosomal or molecular level. Mapping, the paper argues, or more generally 'analytical/comparative' next to 'experimentalist' approaches (Pickstone) were not only part and parcel of Brenner's strategy to 'molecularize' the study of development, but also played a crucial role in 'classical' molecular biology.
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Science,
2002]
The nematode worm known as Caenorhabditis elegans is not much to look at. Just a millimeter long and transparent to boot, it is almost invisible to the naked eye. But in biological research the tiny worm looms large, providing a model system for studying everything from embryonic development to aging. Now, three researchers who pioneered the use of C. elegans as a model organism have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
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Genetics,
1996]
I fell in love with Caenorhabditis elegans in the summer of '72. Our relationship was cemented four years later, 20 years ago now, by the publication of a paper in Genetics on C. elegans chromosome rearrangements (Herman et al. 1976). My pleasant assignment here is to describe the beginning of that work and to relate it to current worm cytogenetics and chromosome mechanics.
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Chembiochem,
2003]
Thank you so very much for inviting me to be here. It gives me a mingled sense of humility at how much I owe to others, and of joy that the collective work on the worm has been recognised in this way.
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Exp Oncol,
2012]
The story of cell death began with the origins of cell biology, including important observations by Elie (Ilya) Metchnikoff, who realized that phagocytes engulfed dying cells. Most of the early studies were observational. By the middle of the 20th C, researchers were beginning to explore how cells died, had recognized that cell death was a physiologically controlled process, that the most common mode of death ("shrinkage necrosis", later apoptosis) was tightly controlled, and were speculating whether lysosomes were "suicide bags". Just prior to 1990 several discoveries led to rapid expansion of interest in the field and elucidation of the mechanisms of apoptosis. Closer to the beginning of the 21st C comprehensive analysis of the molecules that controlled and effected apoptosis led to the conclusion that autophagic processes were linked to apoptosis and could serve to limit or increase cell death. Today, realizing that knowledge of the components of cell death has not yet produced pharmaceuticals of therapeutic value, research is turning to questions of what metabolic or other mechanisms indirectly control the activation or suppression of the cell death positive feedback loop. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Apoptosis: Four Decades Later"
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Development,
2024]
Germ granules have been hypothesized to deliver mRNAs of germ cell fate determinants to primordial germ cells. Now, a new study in Development finds that many mRNAs enriched in germ granules are not involved in germline development in Caenorhabditis elegans. To find out more about the story behind the paper, we caught up with first author Alyshia Scholl, second author Yihong Liu and corresponding author Geraldine Seydoux, Professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
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Int J Dev Biol,
2000]
1969 was a landmark year. But for me it was not Neil Armstrong's giant leap or Woodstock heralding the beginning of the end of the sixties that sticks in my mind. It was a visit I made to Cambridge to meet a "bloke who is starting a new project to study some sort of worm", as my head of department at the Medical Research Council's National Institute of Medical Research informed me...
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Nature,
2002]
A humble nematode has wormed its way into the affection of the scientific community and helped to secure this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The award goes to three biologists whose work on the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans has yielded insights and spin-offs in such diverse fields as cancer research and modern
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Ecol Dis,
1983]
Medical records concerning filarial diseases in Ceylon date from the account of Davy[1], though there are hints as to the more obvious manifestations in the old chronicles of the country, too. A first survey was conducted in 1912/1913 concentrating on urban areas, followed by a second survey in the 1930s with emphasis on the rural parts. The results displayed a remarkable distribution pattern: Wuchereria bancrofti, the so-called "urban type", concentrated in Galle and Matara towns, whereas Brugia malayi, the "rural type", widespread along the southwest coast from Matara to Negombo, plus isolated pockets in the northwest, central north, east and south. The survey of the 1930s lead to the supposition that the occurrence of B. malayi must have something to do with the distribution of certain water plants, a suspicion later on confirmed in that Pistia stratiotes in particular--but other water plants as well--are essential for the survival of the vector (Taeniorhynchus (Mansonia) uniformis) during its early (submersed) stages of development. A determined effort to remove the water plants from tanks etc. reduced the rural type with encouraging results. At the same time, a combination of factors, in particular the war-time sojourn of masses of troops from Africa, already infected by filarial diseases, in the southwestern coastal areas triggered off an unexpected spread of the urban type out of its early "bridge-heads" in Galle and Matara towns to invade the southwest coastal areas, and, later on, supported by increased population mobility, to advance further inland too. At present, there is no remedy within sight to give some hope to come to grips with this problem as the vector, Culex pipiens fatigans, is ubiquitous and finds suitable breeding grounds practically everywhere. Research into the history of filarial diseases in Ceylon points as far as B. malayi is concerned, to an invasion by a Malayan army under the Kalinga kings during the days of close relations between Ceylon and southeast Asia, i.e. during the 12th and 13th centuries, and as far as W. bancrofti is concerned, a Chinese army, invading the southern coast in the early 15th century, is made responsible. Filarial diseases in Ceylon present a particular interesting case of geomedical research; but inspite of encouraging results in fighting the rural type, i.e. B. malayi, the urban type, W. bancrofti, seems to remain a problem of public health in the island for the forseeable future.
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Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci,
2015]
The article 'Structure of the nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans' (aka 'The mind of a worm') by White et al., published for the first time the complete set of synaptic connections in the nervous system of an animal. The work was carried out as part of a programme to begin to understand how genes determine the structure of a nervous system and how a nervous system creates behaviour. It became a major stimulus to the field of C. elegans research, which has since contributed insights into all areas of biology. Twenty-six years elapsed before developments, notably more powerful computers, made new studies of this kind possible. It is hoped that one day knowledge of synaptic structure, the connectome, together with results of many other investigations, will lead to an understanding of the human brain. This commentary was written to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.