Congratulations, Needhi and team!! Super cool!

Normally non-toxic bacteria, when induced to produce the bioplastic PHB, kill C. elegans!

PHB has been in the microbiology text books for over a century — in this new study I co-authored with Gabrielle Giese in the Walhout lab we show this bioplastic is also relevant for host-microbe interactions!

I'm excited to tell you about the most recent preprint in my lab, demonstrating that a conserved spindle matrix protein, NPP-21/TPR, is required for the stronger checkpoint in germline cells during embryogenesis in C. elegans

⚒️ NEW TOOLBOX for #Celegans researchers 🪱

Theresa Gibney and Ariel Pani developed a method that allows for a standardized workflow to generate N-terminal and internal tags in any background and without the need for genetic balancers.

Paper in #GENETICS:🔗 buff.ly/wXMml3x

Congrats to all!

It’s great to see our latest microPublication go live!

Four undergraduate researchers worked with grad student Kat Yamamoto to demonstrate a correlation between fat storage and survival of #Celegans on pathogenic bacteria!

Congrats Alan, Grace, Tiffany, and Daniel! #undergradinthelab #proudPI

Yay happy birthday @needhibhalla.bsky.social !!

Science professors and educators all have a role in combating this eugenics resurgence
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

TEM cross sections of the cephalic sensory organ at the level of the ciliary transition zone in wild-type and mec-9(ok2853) mutants. N = 8-10 sense organs examined across 2-3 animals per genotype. Numbers in lower left corner of images indicate the number of sense organs exhibiting the phenotype shown over the total number of sense organs examined. Scale bars = 200 nm. In the cartoons, CEP and CEM neurons are yellow and blue, the sheath cell is light gray, and the lumen is dark gray. Lumenal EVs are indicated as white circles.

New preprint! An ECM gene acts cell non-autonomously from neighbor neurons to regulate ciliary function, protein
localization, extracellular vesicle shedding, and ultrastructure

@katiejacobs.bsky.social is the lead in another great collaboration w/ David Hall

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

His Harvard Lab Was Thriving. Then Came the Cuts.

NYT feature on their website's front page about our local C. elegans colleague Will Mair and NIH funding
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/u...

Yay, congrats, @irinakitop.bsky.social !!

1/4 Our preprint “Modulation of the RNase P/MRP complex and mitochondrial ribosome enhances cytosolic ribosome coordination and sustains longevity” is now live @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social 📄 #agingbiology #ribosome 👉www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02...

🪱Worm-friends! Join us this summer in Madison for the C. elegans topic meeting(s) - MAPSS *and* DevCell 🪱

Early birds get the you-know-what, and the early registration deadline is THIS FRI: conferences.union.wisc.edu/ceaging/

It's buy-one-get-one, and who out there doesn't love a deal?? 🙌

Super cool! Great work @ashih-cd.bsky.social.

Pablo Picasso created a figure with light, 1949. Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection.

In Gjon Mili’s photographs of Pablo Picasso drawing with light, you see the figure because the camera integrates time.

Inspired by long-exposure photography, Dante Ashih, an undergraduate in my lab, built the Wormtrails Python package to make it easier to see recent C. elegans behavior.

Thread. 1/

Congratulations!!

Here's our paper showing that collagens contribute to the final shape of the reproductive system in C. elegans

doi.org/10.1016/j.ma...

I have had a few people ask me who Mark is - it’s Mark Edgley! He used to be the curator of the CGC. Did you know that the CGC was at the University of Missouri before? Take a look at this Research Resources issue from the NIH in 1986. #celegans

The Dream and MEC NuRD complexes reinforce SPR-5/MET-2 maternal reprogramming to maintain the germline-soma distinction Abstract. The proper coordination of transcription factors, ATP dependent chromatin remodelers and histone modifications is essential for tissue specific g

Excited to Share Our New Publication in #GENETICS!

academic.oup.com/genetics/adv...

Check out our new publication of our research exploring how the DREAM and MEC NuRD complexes reinforce SPR 5/MET 2 maternal reprogramming to safeguard proper developmental cell fates in C. elegans.

We in the C. elegans community are lucky to have the #wormfeed. Big shout out to @microbeminded.bsky.social for creating such a wonderful gathering place.

And you can pin the wormfeed to your homescreen: bsky.app/profile/did:...

Big Event Today

MAHA INSTITUTE PRESENTS
Reclaiming Science: The People's NIH
with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya

January 30, 2026
12:00–5:00pm
Registration Starting at 11:00am
The Willard Hotel
The Crystal Room
1401 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20004

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Congratulations!!

A stress-dependent postembryonic role for the core CPA factor CFIM-1 in germline integrity Abstract. Post-transcriptional processing of pre-mRNAs by alternative polyadenylation (APA) generates a diversity of transcript isoforms at the 3’ untransl

I am pleased to share our latest paper on the role of the alternative polyadenylation factor CFIM-1 (NUDT21) in C. elegans germline development. academic.oup.com/genetics/adv...

The Caenorhabditis Genetics Center Curated Special Collections: a guide to protein degradation systems Abstract. The Caenorhabditis Genetics Center is launching a new website feature—“Curated Special Collections”—designed to help researchers navigate the eve

The Caenorhabditis Genetics Center Curated Special Collections: a guide to protein degradation systems

academic.oup.com/genetics/adv...

Congratulations to all!!

Yuyan Xu

The project was led by my amazing grad student, now Dr. Yuyan Xu. This was beautiful and longstanding collaboration with Sahana Gangadharan and Maedeh Seyedolmohadesin in @vivekvenkatachalam.bsky.social lab. We also had important contributions from Jun Liu and @monikakscholz.bsky.social lab. 2/

Friends! I am so happy to share our new preprint!

Hydrogen peroxide has been the most common reactive chemical threat to life forms since the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago.

How do animals like C. elegans sense it fast and escape?

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Epigenetic silencing is a barrier to editing the X chromosome using the SEC-based CRISPR/Cas9 knock-in protocol in C. elegans #micropublication #biology #data #caltechlibrary #Celegans #Genomic #Methods #NewFinding #Methodology micropublication.org/journals/biology/micropu...

#Celegans folks - What is your experience this year with the NIH? I'm troubled that a trainee was told that our work is too "NSF'y" just because we are using worms to address foundational questions. This might have been just one PO, or it might be evidence of a major shift in NIH priorities. ??

Opposing roles for lipocalins and a CD36 family scavenger receptor in apical extracellular matrix-dependent protection of narrow tube integrity Summary: Lipocalins and SCARBs are lipid transporters that influence susceptibility to infection and disease. This study shows that lipocalin and SCARB mutations affect the organization of a protectiv...

Lipocalins and Scavenger Receptors affect the luminal matrix that prevents narrow tubes from collapsing - now in press in Development! #aECM #Celegans

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...