No, that's not a typo in the post title. I'm referring to the nematode (aka worm) known as Caenorhabditis elegans, or C. elegans for short. More recently the topic of longevity has been introduced into discussions regarding diet and health, and when one looks into aging research, they will inevitably be inundated with studies involving these worms. The caption of the picture at right is "adult and two juveniles". Apparently there are some similarities between some genes in this worm and insulin receptor genes in humans. I'm always intrigued when the "I am not a mouse (or rat)" crowd starts citing worm longevity research to support their theories on metabolism and endocrinology. Surely they see that where there are differences in rodent and human physiology, these differences are dwarfed many times over when one tries to extrapolate worm physiology to humans!
