Model organisms provide the opportunity to experimentally test the correlations between genes and disease-related processes because of the high-level of conservation and the ease of manipulation. However, most model organism research is based on a single wild-type strain background with little connection to natural variation, which is like studying a single person to make conclusions about the entire human species. C. elegans is isolated worldwide and has genetic variation comparable to that of humans. Therefore, C. elegans provides the opportunity to identify the genes that vary among individuals and the molecular mechanisms for how genetic variation causes phenotypic differences.

Visit Andersen's website: here