psgurel – Today (and for the next few weeks), I am writing my thesis (hence why I’ve been posting so infrequently).  Basically, this is the compilation of everything I have accomplished in the lab over the past 5 years.  The written document is due in two weeks, and shortly after that I will be defending my work to my thesis committee of four members.  If all goes well, I’ll be a Ph.D.  As for now, it’s crunch time!

crestwind24 – Today I am at my microscope crossing together different strains of C. elegans. In other words, I am breeding worms… woah! To do this, I take hermaphrodite worms from one strain, and put them on a special ‘honeymoon’ plate, which has just a small bit of food. Worms are attracted to food, so limiting the area of food means the worms are more likely to run into each other and mate. I then add male worms from the second strain of worms onto the plate and give the worms some privacy (below is a gif of 2 worms mating!). After a few days, I will pick small worms that are the progeny (children) of the 2 worm strains that I crossed! Fast and Easy!