Roundworm News and Research

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Roundworm infection, or toxocariasis, is a zoonotic disease — a disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Dogs and cats are the definitive hosts for the roundworm species that commonly cause human disease.

Water treatment appears to be most effective at reducing roundworm infections

Roundworm infections can be reduced significantly simply by improving the treatment and quality of drinking water in high risk regions, according to an international team of researchers led by Tufts University.

3 Aug 2019

Researchers discover gene linked to healthy aging in worms

People with the same lifespan do not necessarily have the same quality of life. As we live longer, extending quality of life -- "healthspan" -- is gaining importance.

12 Jul 2019

Study reveals first complete wiring diagram of an animal's nervous system

In a study published online today in Nature, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine describe the first complete wiring diagram of the nervous system of an animal, the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, used by scientists worldwide as a model organism.

4 Jul 2019

Learned avoidance behavior can be inherited for multiple generations, say Princeton researchers

Princeton University researchers have discovered that learned behaviors can be inherited for multiple generations in C. elegans, transmitted from parent to progeny via eggs and sperm cells.

7 Jun 2019

International research collaboration uses FDA-approved drugs to slow aging in nematodes

An international research collaboration that includes the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has discovered that aging in nematodes (worms) can be slowed and even reversed by a number of Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs, findings that have the potential to extend human lifespan.

30 May 2019

Researchers identify new anti-aging compounds among FDA-approved drugs

Researchers from Gero, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences collaborated to derive a transcriptomic signature of aging, which they confirmed using large transcriptomic databases.

23 May 2019

Research on repetitive worm behavior may shed light on repetition in humans

Repetition can be useful if you're trying to memorize a poem, master a guitar riff, or just cultivate good habits.

13 May 2019

New study provides better understanding on safety of deworming programs

A new study has identified no major differences between the microbiomes of people infected with roundworm or hookworm and uninfected peers.

23 Apr 2019

Roundworm study suggests alternatives for treatment of schizophrenia

A group of Brazilian scientists have long conducted experiments with roundworms to investigate the role of schizophrenia-linked genes in patients' response to antipsychotic drugs. The results obtained thus far point to new ways of understanding resistance to certain classes of medication.

20 Mar 2019

Researchers describe neural mechanisms responsible for local search in hungry worms

Perpetually hungry, worms are strategic when it comes to searching for food. The microscopic roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, or C. elegans, is known to spend up to 20 minutes seeking out snacks in its immediate surroundings before endeavoring to look elsewhere.

27 Feb 2019

Scientists demonstrate influence of food odors on proteostasis

The smell of food induces a variety of physiological processes in our body. Thus, the production of saliva and digestive enzymes is stimulated before the actual food intake in order to prepare the gastrointestinal tract for the upcoming digestive process.

20 Feb 2019

Nine early career scientists named 2019 recipients of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation announced that nine scientists with novel approaches to fighting cancer have been named 2019 recipients of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award.

24 Jan 2019

Researchers identify genes that drive male-female brain differences, trigger initiation of puberty

Researchers have identified a group of genes that induces differences in the developing brains of male and female roundworms and triggers the initiation of puberty, a genetic pathway that may have the same function in controlling the timing of sual maturation in humans.

3 Jan 2019

Researchers discover protein involved in nematode stress response

When humans experience stress, their inner turmoil may not be apparent to an outside observer. But many animals deal with stressful circumstances - overcrowded conditions, not enough food - by completely remodeling their bodies.

14 Dec 2018

Researchers identify promising new therapeutic target for Parkinson’s

A new study has shed light on the role fatty acids play in Parkinson’s disease and pointed towards an enzyme as a potential therapeutic target for the disease.

4 Dec 2018

Researchers demonstrate epigenetic memory transmission via sperm

A new study suggests that if the epigenetics of sperm chromosomes are altered by the environment a father experiences, then this could affect offspring’s health.

17 Oct 2018

Researchers identify series of molecules involved in regeneration of damaged nerves

Researchers at Nagoya University have identified the series of molecules involved in the regeneration of damaged nerves in roundworm, showing that it largely overlaps with the signals used by the intrinsic removal system to take up and process dying cells.

24 Aug 2018

Study findings shed light on fundamental feature of nerve repair

Through a study of roundworm nerve cells with severed axons, researchers at Nagoya University showed that a signaling cascade that normally functions in promoting the phagocytosis of apoptotic cells also acts in inducing axon regeneration.

24 Aug 2018

Research uncovers unexpected upside of E. coli

Best known as a pathogen that causes food poisoning or steals nutrients away from its host, the E. coli bacterium actually plays a critical role in promoting health by producing a compound that helps cells take up iron, new CU Boulder research shows.

24 Aug 2018

Research identifies cell signaling pathways related to endocannabinoid system in worms

Like mammals, parasitic worms have an endocannabinoid system that may help the worm and the hosts it infects survive by reducing pain and inflammation in the host, according to a "wild" new discovery by an interdisciplinary research team at the University of California, Riverside.

23 Aug 2018