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We study the neurobiology and behaviour of a small roundworm called Caenorhabditis elegans. Why study worms? Sometimes complex questions need to be broken down into simpler cases. Reductionism is not sufficient on its own, but it is necessary for fundamental understanding, and it works because all animals are built out of the same basic components. C. elegans develop quickly and reproduce clonally, and they are the only animal with a completely mapped nervous system. Thus, we can perform experiments using genetically and anatomically identical animals, link changes at identified synapses and cells to changes in behabiour, and ask detailed questions about the genetic and environmental factors that shape brain function. Many key features of animal neurobiology were first discovered in organisms like worms, flies, slugs, and squid. Our understanding of human health and disease is continuously built on these fundamental biological discoveries.
Department of Biology McGill University Stewart Biology N5/12 1205 av du Docteur-Penfield Montreal, QC H3A 1B1 |
Lab news
11 January 2021 Lilly's paper on how to grow C. elegans on modified fruit tissue is out! https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/comments?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0245139 5 January 2021 A virtual welcome to new PhD student Nour Halaby! We hope Nour can join us soon! 1 September 2020 Welcome to two new MSc students, Hannah Owens and Sebastian Wittekindt! 18 June 2020 The lab has been award an NSERC Discovery Grant and an NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement. https://youtu.be/ewRjZoRtu0Y?t=56 1 May 2020 Sreeparna Pradhan successfully defended her PhD thesis today...congrats Sreeparna! 26 April 2020 Michael gave a talk in the pandemic-inspired Virtual Worm seminar series. Check it out below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7eAR62iFlw 9 September 2019 Sreeparna's paper is out! "Environmental Programming of Adult Foraging Behavior in C. elegans." https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)30925-X 3 September 2018 Welcome new PhD student Jorge Luna-Herrera! 6 June 2019 Congrats to Rachel, our long-term visitor from the Rechavi Lab, on her paper on small RNA inheritance and behavior. https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(19)30448-9.pdf 20 November 2018 Marie-Helene's paper is published in eNeuro. http://www.eneuro.org/content/5/6/ENEURO.0121-18.2018 31 October 2018 The lab's domination of the Biology Department annual pumpkin carving contest continues with another 1st place finish! 6 September 2018 A new preprint is on bioRxiv. Desrochers et al. "Asymmetric adaptation reveals functional lateralization for graded versus discrete stimuli" https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/09/06/411033 3 September 2018 Welcome new lab members! Fouley Tirera - PhD student Georgiana Forguson - MSc student Lily Guisnet - MSc student 26 August 2018 A new preprint is on bioRxiv. Pradhan et al. "Environmental programming of adult foraging behavior in C. elegans" https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/08/26/400754 31 March 2018 Read our preprint on bioRxiv. Ouellette et al. "A gate-and-switch model for head orientation behaviors in C. elegans" https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/03/28/291005 24 January 2018 The lab has been awarded a CIHR Project Grant! |