Why C.elegans? C. Elegans Research Company | C. Elegans as a Model Organism

Why C. elegans?

A transformative in vivo model with diverse advantages in human health discovery

The nematode worm, C. elegans, offers diverse advantages for research discovery in human health applications. C. elegans share a high degree of gene conservation with humans, with several comparative signalling pathways and processes.

They are small (<1mm) whole organisms, with a short lifecycle, sharing a proportion of complexity to mammals, and are amenable to transgenic studies. When compared to rodents, they offer cost efficient, fast, more ethical primary stage testing for your project, in larger populations.

Advantages of C. elegans as a Model Organism

Research Relevance

Established whole organism model for research testing, screening and disease with consistent physiology, compared to variable in vitro cells

Ethics

No regulatory constraints, 3R compliant and more ethical to use than more sentient mammals

Time

Get results in weeks rather than months. Much faster than comparable rodent studies, or tests in multiple in vitro cell types, or using organoids

Cost

Obtain multi-end point data at a fraction of the cost of comparable rodent studies.

Our Technology

Our patented novel WormGazer^TM technology generates rich, customisable, multi-faceted healthspan data in a natural environment

Our Leading Expertise

Our world-class team of multidisciplinary C. elegans experts, holding 80+ years joint experience, ensure the best study design and analysis for your project

Advantages of C. elegans as a model organism testing model:

High gene conservation with humans ( > 80% homologous genes1)
Small size with a short lifecycle for speed and cost efficiency
Whole organism with muscle, intestines, epidermis, nervous and reproductive systems
Early phase in vivo testing model for invaluable prescreening – reduces and informs mammalian
testing need
Less space, larger populations and faster experiments than rodents
Ethical and sustainable to use compared to more sentient mammals
No regulatory restrictions, 3R compliant
High degree of experimental control
Transparent body for easy live visualisation of organs, fluorescent tags and data collection
Exceptional natural model for test interventions on ageing and longevity

De-risk your move from in vitro testing to mammals with confidence

For complex diseases and conditions involving multiple organs and biological processes, C. elegans offer distinct advantages to in vitro cell studies. Their use as a model also proffers complementary data, to validate and enrich in vitro findings.

C.elegans provide an excellent natural model for ageing and longevity studies, as opposed to accelerated ageing model alternatives. They start to age within 1 week of their 2-3 week lifespan. In contrast, primary cell lines can be limited as a model for ageing, due to the huge variability in the biological age of individual cells. Mammalian models age relatively slowly and requirensubstantial upkeep, so are less time and cost-efficient.

C. elegans short lifecycle also makes it particularly suited to Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity (DART) studies and longevity studies.

Crucially, our CRO expertise and C. elegans in vivo testing enable you to prescreen and narrow your candidate pipeline, and consequently, reduce rodent testing. This is all without the regulatory requirements for tests in mammals.

Established and relevant research model

Track record of relevance to disease including neurodegeneration, diabetes, developmental
biology and metabolism
Many human disease orthologs and amenability to modification
Verified use as a natural ageing model
Valuable application in drug discovery candidate screening
Established use in nutritional studies and bioactive ingredients testing
Intrinsic host-microbe interaction, so can easily be raised germ-free
Easy transgenic expression for models of human diseases
Existing mutant and transgenic strains available for research

Our standout advantage

We combine the amenability of C. elegans with our unrivalled CRO expertise and proprietary WormGazer^TM technology to provide you with rich, high quality in vivo data with a multi-faceted healthspan approach. Our technology offers fast results, whilst maintaining worms in a natural environment rather than on microchips, (like some competitors), to encourage native behaviour.

We therefore generate optimal and reliable data outcomes. We have extensive experience across sectors, including academia, and work with clients in Biotechnology, Nutraceuticals & Ingredients, Pharmaceutical and Cosmeceuticals industries.

WormGazer^TM Technology

Our patented biophotonics platform analyses and captures multiple end-point data from living worms, providing rich integrated measures on the effect of your compound or product. In contrast to manual assays, that are well-established in academic research to measure health, ageing, toxicity (death) and disease in C. elegans, our WormGazer^TM Technology allows us to collect continuous and rich data well beyond traditional manual assays.

Learn more about our technology