THE MAKING OF A WORM
The Nematode C. elegans, aka the worm, is a major model organism for biomedical research. Studies in C. elegans have broadened our understanding on a wide range of issues, such as cancer, metabolism and aging, neural regeneration, drug screen and many others.
The WormGUIDES app animates the dynamics of C. elegans embryogenesis, during which a single cell, the fertilized egg, splits to generate 558 assorted cells that assemble into a living organism. Nuclei of embryonic cells are rendered within an interactive, time-animated model of the developing embryo. Each cell can be queried for its identity, ancestry, fate, and function. Users can easily compose scenes in which cells of specific lineages, tissues, organs, and/or cell-by-cell gene-expression patterns are simultaneously highlighted within the 4-D model. Any scene from a single users screen can be instantly saved and shared.
WormGUIDES is a collaboration headed by Drs. Zhirong Bao (MSKCC), Daniel Colón-Ramos (Yale), William Mohler (UConn) and Hari Shroff (NIH).