Raff MC (1994) Science "Cell death genes: Drosophila enters the field."

Raff MC

[Science, 1994]

Rankin CH et al. (2015) Elife "Finding a worm's internal compass."

Lin CH, Rankin CH

[Elife, 2015]

A pair of neurons is required for nematodes to be able to navigate using the Earth's magnetic field.

Kenyon CJ (1995) Cell "A perfect vulva every time: gradients and signaling cascades in C. elegans."

Kenyon CJ

[Cell, 1995]

For many years developmental biologists have been trying to learn whether patterning within fields of cells is driven by graded morphogens or by sequential signaling cascades...

Trojanowski NF et al. (2015) Curr Biol "Neural Circuits: From Structure to Function and Back."

Trojanowski NF, Raizen DM

[Curr Biol, 2015]

The new field of connectomics aims to obtain fine-grained anatomical connectivity data for vertebrate brains. A recent study highlights the types of experiments that will be necessary in order to draw conclusions about function from anatomical connectivity.

Lakhina V et al. (2015) Cell "For longevity, perception is everything."

Murphy CT, Lakhina V

[Cell, 2015]

Aging is a risk factor for chronic diseases, and identifying targets for intervention is a goal of the aging field. Burkewitz et al. now describe a mechanism that mediates the specific role for AMPK in longevity, whereby its activity in neurons modulates metabolism and mitochondrial integrity in peripheral tissues.

Frokjaer-Jensen C (2013) Genetics "Exciting prospects for precise engineering of Caenorhabditis elegans genomes with CRISPR/Cas9."

Frokjaer-Jensen C

[Genetics, 2013]

With remarkable speed, the CRISPR-Cas9 nuclease has become the genome-editing tool of choice for essentially all genetically tractable organisms. Targeting specific DNA sequences is conceptually simple because the Cas9 nuclease can be guided by a single, short RNA (sgRNA) to introduce double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs) at precise locations. Here I contrast and highlight protocols recently developed by eight different research groups, six of which are published in GENETICS, to modify the Caenorhabditis elegans genome using CRISPR/Cas9. This reverse engineering tool levels the playing field for experimental geneticists.

Thomas JH (1998) Cell "Social life and the single nucleotide: foraging behavior in C. elegans."

Thomas JH

[Cell, 1998]

Since the rise of the field of sociobiology, the study of the biological basis of social behavior, scientists have striven to assign genetic origins for a variety of social behaviors. There have been a number of highly publicized and often controversial studies of the basis of human social behavoirs such as sexual orientation and religion. Less trumpeted by the popular press, there have been a number of more credible advances in the genetic analysis of complex behavioral traits. Two papers in the past year, one in this issue of Cell (de Bono and Bargmann, 1998), have established two interesting cases of a molecular basis for complex behaviors that are arguably relevant to social interactions in natural populations. Both have to do with food foraging strategies, one in Drosophila and one in C.

Luo S et al. (2006) J Biol "Regulators of kinesin involved in polarized trafficking and axon outgrowth."

Nonet ML, Luo S

[J Biol, 2006]

ABSTRACT : Proteins such as UNC-76 that associate with kinesin motors are important in directing neurite extension. A small Caenorhabditis elegans coiled-coil protein, UNC-69, has now been shown to interact with UNC-76 and to be involved in axonal (but not dendritic) transport and outgrowth, as well as synapse formation.

Wu MN et al. (2011) Curr Biol "Notch signaling: a role in sleep and stress."

Wu MN, Raizen DM

[Curr Biol, 2011]

The molecular pathways regulating sleep remain poorly understood. Studies in this issue demonstrate a role for Notch signaling in sleep regulation as well as stress response in both Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila.

Partridge L et al. (1992) Nature "Evolutionary biology. What the sperm count costs."

Harvey PH, Partridge L

[Nature, 1992]

Dissecting the sex life of the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans has already provided surprises for biologists interested in life-history theory. In a report on page 456 of this issue, Van Voorhies throws another spanner in the works by demonstrating that the costs of producing sperm are not as negligible as we might have thought.