Caenorhabditis elegans (the worm) has long been a key model organism for understanding the biological mechanisms that underlie life span, health span, and aging. The first mutations that modulate life span were identified in worms (14). Subsequent cloning of
daf-2, an insulin-like receptor (5), and its downstream target
daf-16, a FOXO transcription factor (6,7), opened up the field of aging research to genetic analysis. Since this time, there has been an explosion of aging research, much using worms, that has revealed many fundamental aspects of metabolism and cellular signaling that impinge on life span and health span. Today, the worm is still teaching us about fundamental aspects of aging, as highlighted by several recent publications in JGBS.