Articles tagged C. elegans
(40 results)

NUN bodies in C. elegans offer clues about nervous system differentiation. One of the most active areas of research today explores the differences between individual cell types and how cells become differentiated. This specialization of cell types relies on changes in gene expression, but how those changes are orchestrated remains unknown. Now, research published in…

A better way to make endogenous reporters in C. elegans CRISPR systems for gene editing have revolutionized biological research, but the method still has limitations. While it is usually straightforward to delete parts of the genome using CRISPR, large insertions can be a challenge. This has been the case even for the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans,…

The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to announce that Anne Villeneuve, PhD, of Stanford University is the recipient of the 2019 Genetics Society of America Medal. Villeneuve is recognized for her research on the mechanisms governing chromosome inheritance during sexual reproduction.  Her research focuses on meiosis, the specialized cell division program involved in…

To promote excellence in undergraduate research and education, the Genetics Society of America has established a travel award to assist undergraduate members attending a GSA conference and presenting their research. We’re proud to announce the winners of the Undergraduate Travel Award! The recipients will be attending the 22nd International C. elegans Conference at UCLA from June 20–24, 2019. We can’t…

A suppressor screen in C. elegans uncovers previously unknown flexibility in the genetics underlying extracellular membranes. In nearly all animal tissues, thin barriers called basement membranes anchor outward-facing layers of cells—the linings of lungs, the top layers of skin, the insides of blood vessels—to the connective tissues that support them. Mutations disrupting any major basement…

Offshoot of the modENCODE project provides crucial data and strains for understanding gene regulation. Following a multidisciplinary effort spanning six institutions, researchers working on the modERN (model organism Encyclopedia of Regulatory Networks) project have released a powerful resource for biologists studying the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. So far, report Kudron,…

Consider the papercut—a minor injury best known for the disproportionate amount of pain it can cause. That a wound so inconsequential can sting so terribly is curious, but perhaps even more surprising is the fact that it heals at all. To heal a wound, even one as trivial as a papercut, the cells involved in…

The fastest-evolving genes in eukaryotes commonly encode reproductive proteins—and the rate at which genes for male reproductive proteins change, in particular, often vastly outstrips the rate of change across the genome as a whole. A recent paper in G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics describes an unusual exception: the amino acid sequences of the most abundant sperm proteins in…

The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to announce that Barbara Meyer is the recipient of the 2018 Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal, which is awarded for lifetime achievement in genetics. This honor is given in recognition of her groundbreaking work on chromosome behaviors that govern gene expression, development, and heredity. Meyer’s studies of how…

In the 1980s, scientists first noticed circles of DNA interspersed among the normally linear chromosomes of eukaryotic nuclei. Little is known about these molecules, which are called extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA). Variation in eccDNA appears to be biologically significant; development of an organism often comes with increased numbers of eccDNA, for example, and certain types…

The Genetics Society of America’s Edward Novitski Prize recognizes a single experimental accomplishment or a body of work in which an exceptional level of creativity and intellectual ingenuity has been used to design and execute scientific experiments to solve a difficult problem in genetics. The 2017 winner, Jonathan Hodgkin, used elegant genetic studies to unravel…