Our mission and vision

OpenWorm aims to build the first comprehensive computational model of the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a microscopic roundworm. With only a thousand cells, it solves basic problems such as feeding, mate-finding and predator avoidance. Despite being extremely well studied in biology, this organism still eludes a deep, principled understanding of its biology.

We are using a bottom-up approach, aimed at observing the worm behaviour emerge from a simulation of data derived from scientific experiments carried out over the past decade. To do so we are incorporating the data available in the scientific community into software models. We are engineering Geppetto and Sibernetic, open-source simulation platforms, to be able to run these different models in concert. We are also forging new collaborations with universities and research institutes to collect data that fill in the gaps.

Research summaries

• Antoshechkin, I. and Sternberg, P. W. (2007). The versatile worm: genetic and genomic resources for Caenorhabditis elegans research. Nature Reviews Genetics, 8(7), 518–532.
• Maduro, M.F. 2010. Cell fate specification in the C. elegans embryo. Developmental Dynamics, 239(5), 1315-1329.
• Platzer, U. and Meinzer, H.P. 2004. Genetic networks in the early development of Caenorhabditis elegans. International Review of Cytology, 234, 47-100.
• Schnabel, R. 1996. Pattern formation: regional specification in the early C. elegans embryo. Bioessays, 18(7), 591-594.
International Review of Cytology, 234, 47-100.
• Sulston, J.E., Schierenberg, E., White, J.G., and Thomson, J.N. 1983. The embryonic cell lineage of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Developmental Biology, 100(1), 64-119.