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Caenorhabditis Elegans

Other Invertebrates

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Caenorhabditis elegans is a tiny, free-living nematode roughly a millimeter long, found in temperate soils, where it feeds on bacteria. Because its body is transparent, its embryonic development can be observed directly under a microscope, and it was the first animal to have its complete genome sequenced and its whole nervous system mapped neuron by neuron. These qualities have made it one of the most widely used model organisms in biology, central to research on genetics, aging, and the nervous system.

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