• Question: what exactly are nematode worms ?

    Asked by ailhep123 to Rachael on 15 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by georgeteamstarkidweasley.
    • Photo: Rachael Ward

      Rachael Ward answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Nematode worms are a type of round worm (rather than flat worms!). There are thousands of different species of nematode worm – over 28,000 have been identified but some people think there could be up to a million different species! In the wild, nematode worms are found all over the place – from the soil of your garden to deserts, mountains and deep in the ground under the ocean.

      We use one type in biology called the Caenorhabditis elegans (or C. elegans for short). We use this worm because it is easy to study, it is transparent so we can see inside it when we put it under a microscope (they are smaller than a grain of rice) and, importantly for me, it have neurons for me to study.

      You can see some pictures and a video of the worms I study on my profile page and more details here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caenorhabditis_elegans

      I hope this answers your question

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