Open source Nematode
Scientists are closer to creating the first virtual animal
The goal of the project is to create the world's first virtual organism that completely repeats the structure of a real living being.
Caenorhabditis elegans is a popular object of laboratory research in molecular biology, genetics, neurophysiology and developmental biology. The length of the worm's body, consisting of thousands of cells, is about 1 mm, its movement speed is 1 mm/s. Despite its miniature size, the nematode is able to hunt, find sexual partners and avoid meeting predators.
In 1986, this worm became the first animal for which biologists fully described the structure of connections in the nervous system. All 7000 connections between neurons in his body were mapped. In 1998, Caenorhabditis elegans became the first multicellular animal whose genome was fully read. These two achievements made it possible to implement the OpenWorm project.
Each of the 1000 worm cells, as well as intercellular connections, were reproduced by programmers on the Geppetto modeling platform. (For how C.elegans was modeled in Novosibirsk, see the article "Life in a Computer" – VM.)
The project participants have achieved that the electronic worm wriggles at a speed typical of its natural counterpart. The next step will be modeling the nerve fibers of the nematode.
The source code of the program is published in the public domain.
The modest roundworm has more than once led the scientists involved in it to wide recognition. In 2002, South African biologist Sidney Brenner, who introduced Caenorhabditis elegans into the number of model organisms back in the 1960s, received the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine together with Robert Horwitz and John Sulston for research on the genetic regulation of organ development and the phenomenon of cell death. Brenner called his Nobel lecture "A Natural Gift to Science" and dedicated it to Caenorhabditis elegans. In this lecture, Brenner argued that the correct choice of a model organism in biological research is no less important than the correct formulation of the problem.
In 2006, the Nobel Prize was awarded to the discoverers of RNA interference, Andrew Fire and Craig Mello, who also used this nematode in their work. Finally, Martin Chalfi, who received the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of green fluorescent protein, also used Caenorhabditis elegans.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru26.12.2013