That little worm. It was the object of our fascination today. 959 cells all-in-one. Small ones, big ones. Many hermaphrodites, and a few male ones. The laying of eggs - more worms. The rare mating, between the (female) hermaphrodite and the rare male. What's more, those little worms could be seen with our naked eye!
We wondered about the purpose of this little worm. It's blind. It lives for 18 days. It is born, reproduces itself, or by that rare male, lays its eggs, and dies. Hm. I really don't want to say that it was created for the purpose of being a good model organism for scientists. So, what's its purpose? Whatever it is, we shall look forward to seeing them again next week. From 1 lone hermaphrodite, to perhaps 300? We feel like we had just obtained a pet, which is soon going to be ALOT of pets.
Actually, it's 18 days, assuming that it's got food for 18 days. Otherwise, when in harsh conditions, the not-yet-mature C.elegans could go into a 'dauer' mode, and stay in that condition for 2 months without food. Woah.
Well for now, that was a good lab session. I'm still wrung out, or even more wrung out, because I couldn't have the rest I needed last night. I completed the tutorial, though. For the first time I feel more hardworking than my roommate, and for the first time, Charmaine's borrowed my notes to take down the notes I took during lecture. slowly, but surely.. slowly but surely. =) I give myself a pat on the shoulder - good job, Hozanna!
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