Bacterial diet quiets worm genes
By John Travis
From Boston, Mass., at the Genome Sequencing and Analysis conference
It’s a gene-loss, not weight-loss, diet. By feeding genetically engineered bacteria to worms, researchers have developed an easy way to deactivate specific worm genes and study their function.
Biologists frequently choose the tiny worm Caenorhabditis elegans for their studies, in part because they’ve already identified most, if not all, of the worm’s genes (SN: 12/12/98, p. 372: https://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc98/12_12_98/Fob1.htm). To study a gene’s roles, many investigators have turned to a method called RNA interference. By injecting a worm with a strand of RNA corresponding to the gene’s DNA sequence, scientists can turn off that particular gene and observe what happens to the animal (SN: 1/15/00, p. 36: For geneticists, interference becomes an asset).