Question: How did you come across this worm and what inspired you about it to think that it can slow down ageing?

Soudabeh Imanikia answered on 4 May 2020:

Hi Kyan, fantastic question. I had no idea about the nematode “C. elegans”. During my MSc degree, we had lectures on “genetic model organisms” and I was fascinated by how worms are a good model particularly for ageing. I was always into basic biology as blood is a big no for me. So what better than the C. elegans? It is a multicellular organism, no blood but still different tissues to study different mechanisms. So I owe big time to my lecturer who also eventually became my PhD supervisor. I remember the first slide: a C. elegans, an earth worm and a snake. He asked us whether we know about them!!

I have no say in the long history of using C. elegans for the study of ageing, and slowing it down. Back in the days one amazing scientist named Cynthia Kenyon, found some “mutant” worms that they lived at least twice longer than the normal worm. She then started studying the genes and eventually the pathway, it is “insulin/insulin-like signalling pathway”. One of the key regulators of ageing. I have been awed by how useful worms are for ageing and disease studies. Since I have lost my dear ones to age-related diseases, it has been my mission and passion to investigate ways to slow down ageing. I am particularly interested in how “healthspan” can contribute to slowing down ageing. I work on worms that have disease genes and they have an accelreated ageing phenotype. Meaning they show muscle degeneration early upon ageing, slow movement, and then by switching on/off some genes I manage to make the worms have a healthier body as well as they live longer. We hope that these insights can eventually help with drug discovery and finding particular genetic switches that can make us humans live healthier and longer. Just living longer does not mean a healthy life. I hope it was informative 🙂