Researchers fondly call the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans “the worm” because of its widespread use in research to understand neuronal and molecular biology. It was the first multicellular organism to have its full genome sequenced and neural wiring mapped. C. elegans grows within 3-5 days from a fertilised egg to a millimetre-long adult, and it has informed profound insights into the human body, as well as biology more broadly.
On March 28, researchers from Princeton University in the U.S. reported that after C. elegans worms ate a disease-causing strain of bacteria, its children inherited the ‘knowledge’ to avoid making the same mistake — up to four generations. Their findings were published in the journal PLoS Genetics.
Given the mechanism by which this transmission occurs, the study raises questions about whether humans could have the same ability.
