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Before you can get to the advantages and disadvantages of using the C. elegans as a model organism, it is important to understand why this organism was first chosen for these specific studies and experiments. Specifically, Sydney Brenner was the scientist responsible for the discovery of C. elegans. Brenner proposed that biological research would need to require a model system that could grow in vast quantities in the lab, were cheap to maintain and had a simple body plan.

When performing experiments on the C. elegans, the advantages of using this species as a model organism vary with each specific scenario. So many questions about C. elegans development and its close relation to that of human developmental processes have been answered when specific analyzes are performed on these organisms. These advantages range from simple knowledge about cellular structure and development to getting answers to vaccine possibilities for neurodegenerative diseases. Because humans and the C. elegans organism both posses similar molecular signaling responsible for development control, many of the organism’s genes have been studied and manipulated. The C. elegans genes have proved to be useful as a prime model for human diseases research. Benefits of C. elegans also include that the entire genome is sequenced and annotated, the availability of an RNAi library comprising approx. 80% of the genes in the genome, the ease of generating transgenic strains and the recent development of gene-targeting approaches. Lifespan has also been an element that has been studied in close relation between C. elegans and overall human development.

While there are many advantages of using C. elegans as model organisms, the organism is not without disadvantages. Because the organism has a very simple body plan, its structure may lack many defined organs/tissues including a brain, blood, a defined fat cell, internal organs, and is evolutionary from humans. The size of the C. elegans organism is also a disadvantage when being used in an experiment as a model organism. The organism’s small size leads to questions about whether or not the size would be appropriate for biochemistry experiments. Biochemistry covers so many aspects of these studies and it is important that those aspects are similar on both small and large scale. Because of this size difference, it has lead to a limited understanding of any tissue-specific signaling such as whether a gene is expressed in the hypodermis or the intestine. Lab experiments with these simple organisms are also very limited due to lack of space and nutrients in cell cultures.

Eng, S.-A., Kong, C., Lim, M.-P., & Nathan, S. (2016). Beyond Traditional Antimicrobials: A Caenorhabditiselegans Model for Discovery of Novel Anti-Infectives. Frntiers in Microbology (7), 1956.

Nollen, E. A., Michels, H., & Sin, O. (2401). Genetic screens in Caenorhabditis elegans. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1951-1959.

Tissenbaum, H. A. (2015). Using C. elegans for aging research. Invertebrate Reproduction & Development (59), 59-63.