All of the fundamental nerve cell structures and functions are highly conserved in animals as diverse as worms and humans. It is therefore easiest to study them in the model organism C. elegans, where we can screen through tens of thousands of animals in a day, analyze genetic pathways of genes that encode proteins with related or sequential functions, and perform imaging experiments of vesicles moving in the axons of living animals. All of these things would be impossible, or very difficult, in other systems.
C. elegans is a free living roundworm. Adults are about 1 mm long and have only about 1000 cells that make up its body. It has a rapid generation time, which is good for genetics, where it is often necessary to cross two or more mutations together. It is easy to culture since it can eat harmless E. coli bacteria. It is prolific. It is hermaphroditic, meaning that it has a sex that is both male and female as well as a sex that is just male. The self fertilization property allows researchers to maintain severe mutants that would not be able to mate. Finally, it is easy to maintain large strain collections because starved cultures last a long time, and C. elegans strains can be frozen.
C. elegans is especially useful is for discovering conserved functions of neurons. This is because its nervous system is relatively simple (only 302 neurons), and the connections between all of those neurons are known. You can isolate mutants that practically have no neuronal function and they can survive as homozygotes. The neurotransmitters, core pathways, and cell biology of neurons are highly conserved from worms to humans. And worms are translucent, so you can image subcellular structures in intact living animals.
For all of these reasons and more C. elegans is a great genetic model for unlocking the mysteries of the nervous system. However, Ken Miller, the founder of the Miller Lab was a neuroscientist before he began using C. elegans. To find out how Dr. Miller became interested in synapses and synaptic vesicles, click here.
C. elegans is especially useful is for discovering conserved functions of neurons. This is because its nervous system is relatively simple (only 302 neurons), and the connections between all of those neurons are known. You can isolate mutants that practically have no neuronal function and they can survive as homozygotes. The neurotransmitters, core pathways, and cell biology of neurons are highly conserved from worms to humans. And worms are translucent, so you can image subcellular structures in intact living animals.
For all of these reasons and more C. elegans is a great genetic model for unlocking the mysteries of the nervous system. However, Ken Miller, the founder of the Miller Lab was a neuroscientist before he began using C. elegans. To find out how Dr. Miller became interested in synapses and synaptic vesicles, click here.