Classroom Explorations:
Characteristics of Life
Introduction:
C. Elegans
The tiny nematode,
Caenorhabditis elegans
, shares many biological structures and processes with more complex organisms (such as humans). This, along with its short time to reproductive maturity (2–3 days), a two-week life span, and our detailed knowledge of its genetics and the function of each of its 959 cells, make
C. elegans
the organism of choice for scientists studying topics from aging to the working of the nervous system.
This video has an elapsed time of 17 seconds.
C. elegans
were grown on an agarose plate covered with a lawn of bacteria (a food source). The movie was taken on an upright dissecting microscope using a 5x objective and digital camera.