Principal Investigator H Horvitz
We isolate and characterize developmental and behavioral mutants of C. elegans. Because the complete cellular anatomy (including the complete wiring diagram of the nervous system) and the complete cell lineage of C. elegans are known, mutant animals can be studied at the level of single cells and even single synapses. Because the complete DNA sequence of the C. elegans genome is available, genes defined by mutations can be rapidly cloned and analyzed. In addition, genes defined by sequence similarity to known genes can be easily identified and mutated. We have studied many genes that play specific roles in development and behavior.