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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.
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Genetics,
2019]
The Genetics Society of America's (GSA) Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal honors researchers for lifetime achievement in genetics. The recipient of the 2018 Morgan Medal, Barbara J. Meyer of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the University of California, Berkeley, is recognized for her career-long, groundbreaking investigations of how chromosome behaviors are controlled. Meyer's work has revealed mechanisms of sex determination and dosage compensation in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> that continue to serve as the foundation of diverse areas of study on chromosome structure and function today, nearly 40 years after she began her work on the topic.