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[
Genome Biol,
2008]
: A report of the European C. elegans 2008 meeting, Seville, Spain, 29 March-2 April 2008.
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[
Invert Neurosci,
2010]
Against the backdrop of the scenic Lake Mendota, the C. elegans Neurobiology Meeting came to a head. Expertly organised by Brian Ackley and Bruce Bamber and hosted at the accommodating University of Wisconsin, the meeting brought together recent contributions from many of the major research groups working on the neurobiology of C. elegans. With seven keynote speakers, 57 verbal presentations and hundreds of posters, this exciting event spanned a fascinating 3days from 27 June to 30 June 2010. In keeping with the tradition of this conference, the event on the whole was spearheaded by young investigators from several research institutions. The meeting served to emphasise the gains enjoyed by taking advantage of the genetic tractability of the worm. A thread that ran through the meeting was the importance of integrating data across different levels of biological organisation to permit delineation of the physiology underpinning discrete behavioural states. Recent advances in optogenetics and microfluidics were at the forefront of refining these analyses. The presentations discussed in this meeting report are a selection which reflects this overarching theme.
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[
Invert Neurosci,
2013]
Some of the finest minds in the field of Caenorhabditis elegans neurobiology were brought together from 14 June to 17 June 2012 in the small, quaint and picturesque German city of Heidelberg for the biannual C. elegans neurobiology conference. Held at the EMBL Advanced Training Centre and wonderfully organised by Diah Yulianti, Jean-Louis Bessereau, Gert Jansen and William Schafer, the meeting contained 62 verbal presentations and hundreds of posters that were displayed around the double-helical walkways that looped throughout the conference centre. Presentations on recent advances in microfluidics, cell ablation and targeted gene expression exemplified the strengths of C. elegans as a model organism, with these advances allowing detailed high-throughput analysis and study. Interesting behaviours that were previously poorly characterised were widely discussed, as were the advantages of C. elegans as a model for neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration and the investigation of neuropeptide function. The examples discussed in this meeting report seek to illustrate the breadth and depth of presentations given on these recurring topics.
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[
Genome Biol,
2007]
: A report on the 16th International Caenorhabditis elegans Meeting, Los Angeles, USA, 27 June-1 July 2007.
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[
Genome Biol,
2003]
A report of the Wellcome Trust meeting "Caenorhabditis elegans past, present and future: The not-so-humble worm", Hinxton, UK, 10 September 2003.
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[
New Biol,
1991]
The biennial meeting on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, which has been held at Cold Spring Harbor on six previous occasions, this year grew too big for the motels of Long Island and moved westward to Madison, where over 500 participants spent 4 packed days discussing recent discoveries and future prospects. Gone are the days when research on this tiny worm seemed like a cottage industry, pursued only by a small group of devotees. However, the holistic approach to the nematode still prevails, as demonstrated by the absence of parallel sessions at the meeting. Genomics, genetics, neurobiology, cell biology, biochemistry, and development remain inextricably interwoven for most of the scientists studying C. elegans. Appropriately enough, biological interactions proved to be a leitmotiv of the 1991 meeting.
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[
Science,
1996]
The one-cell animal embryo, or zygote, faces a daunting engineering task: implementing the architectural plans inscribed in its DNS for building a complex, multicelled body. So, like any sensible construction supervisor, the zygote swiftly divides the project into manageable chunks, assigning some of its progeny to build only gut, for example, and other to make only muscle or skin. Just how each early embryonic cell gets its orders is understood only for the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster-an achievement that helped win 1995's Nobel Prize in medicine for three developmental biologists. Now, however, the communication lines governing embryonic development are emerging in another animal beloved of developmental researchers: the tiny worm known as Caenorhabditis elegans.
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[
Mech Ageing Dev,
2007]
Nearly 20 years ago, researchers discovered that lifespan can be extended by single-gene mutations in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. Further studies revealed that the mechanisms governing aging in the smallest organisms have been evolutionarily conserved and may operate in human beings. Since then, the field of biogerontology has expanded considerably, learning from - and contributing to - such disparate fields as cell signaling, metabolism, endocrinology, and a wide range of human diseases including cancer. To date, newly discovered connections and novel interdisciplinary approaches gradually unify what once seemed unrelated observations between seemingly disparate research areas. While this unification is far from complete, several overlapping themes have clearly emerged. At the 95th International Titisee Conference, devoted to "The Molecular Basis of Aging," 60 of the world''s pre-eminent biogerontologists shared their most recent findings in the biology of aging, and discussed interdisciplinary connections between diverse fields.