Worms

The secret to longevity in tubeworms

With an incredible lifespan of up to 250 years the deep sea tube worm, Lamellibrachia luymesi is among the longest-lived of all animals, but how it obtains sufficient nutrient ?in the form of sulfide - to keep going for this long has been a mystery. In a paper just published in the premier open-access online journal PLoS Biology, Erik Cordes and colleagues now provide a solution: by releasing its...

Research on Worms Yields Clues on Aging

Humanityhas been looking for a "Fontaine de Jouvence" forever; a way to slow orstop aging. While its still nowhere to be found, we are makingprogress; in worms. Researchers found that an epilepsy drug used inhumans had the unexpected effect of prolonging the life span of C.Elegans: A class of anti-seizure medications slows the rate of aging inroundwo...

Stealth Worms May Improve Insect Pest Control

Nematodes comprise a worm family so large it literally covers the earth. They range in size from less than a micron in length to as much as 26 feet. Worldwide interest has begun to focus on microscopic nematodes that live with symbiotic bacteria. "We study these nematodes -- which are actually insect killers -- not only to understand how diverse they are, but also to use them as biological contro...

Fluorescing lab worms signal longer life spans

University of Colorado at Boulder scientists have used a fluorescent marker to predict the individual life spans of identical worms that were genetically engineered to illuminate stress levels, implying living organisms have "hidden physiological states" that dictate their ability to deal with the rigors of life. According to CU-Boulder Research Associate Shane Rea, the genetically identic...

Deep sea buffet for bone-devouring worms

Press release based on a recently published article in Environmental MicrobiologyAn unusual relationship between bacteria and a newly discovered group of marine worms is the only known partnership (or symbiosis) which uses sunken marine mammals as its sole source of nutrition. In the September issue of Environmental Microbiology, Dr Shana Goffredi and her colleagues reveal this unique part...

Regenerating worms help elucidate stem cell biology

Using a tiny flatworm best known for its extraordinary ability to regenerate lost tissue, researchers have identified a gene that controls the ability of stem cells to differentiate into specialized cells. The gene encodes a protein that is most similar to the protein PIWI, an important regulator of stem cells in organisms ranging from plants to humans. The replacement of tissue lost to i...

Evolutionary conservation of a mechanism of longevity from worms to mammals

Though the study of aging in the nematode model organism C. elegans has provided much insight into this complex process, it is not yet clear whether genes involved in aging in the worm have a similar role in mammals. In a recent study, Dr. Hekimi and colleagues of McGill University (Canada) report that inactivation of the gene mclk1, the murine ortholog of the C. elegans gene clk-1, results in i...

Worms know bad food when they smell it

For most people, just a whiff of food that has made them sick in the past is enough to trigger a wave of nausea ?and to prevent them from eating that food again. It's a response that's instantaneous, involuntary, and so fundamental to basic biology that it occurs in a broad range of species. Even worms, researchers have now shown, quickly learn to avoid smells associated with foods that have made...

Carbon nanotube absorption measured in worms, cancer cells

University of Michigan researchers have discovered how to measure the absorption of multi-walled carbon nanoparticles into worms and cancer cells, a breakthrough that will revolutionize scientists' understanding of how the particles impact the living environment. A team led by U-M chemical engineering professor Walter J. Weber Jr. tagged multi-walled carbon nanotubes---one of the most pro...

Some like it hot: Worms at deep-sea vents favor a fiery 45-55°C

Scientists have found that worms dwelling at deep-sea hydrothermal vents opt for temperatures of 45-55 degrees Celsius (113-131 degrees Fahrenheit) when given a choice of conditions, giving them the highest thermal preference of any animal studied to date. This unique preference for extreme temperatures may be the undersea worms' meal ticket, since they are apparently the only animals able to acc...

Parasitic worms used to fight bowel disease

Although most of us cringe at the sound of the words "parasitic worms," it's a fact that some of these creatures are actually good for us. Her research is part of a more than $10 m...

Worms produce surprise insight into human fever

Give or take a few dozen trillions, a human adult has about 70 trillion cells. An adult Caenorhabditis elegans roundworm has exactly 959 cells. Yet we have an awful lot in common, says Alejandro Aballay of Duke University, who has been exploring two “highly conserved? cell-signaling pathways for innate immunity shared by worms and humans. For one, we have a lot of common enemies, partic...