Grant: Operating Grant

Our goal in this project will be to continue providing researchers with deletion mutations in genes in the small soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. We will focus on a target list of genes with human homologs. This group of genes is of practical importance in human health and disease and the nemtode offers a suitable model to efficiently determine novel gene functions at the cellular and intercellular level. Many biochemical pathways are conserved between the nematode and humans and genes within the nematode can be functionally replaced by their human homologs. In many cases these genes when dysfunctional within humans lead to inherited diseases, susceptibility to cancers or other health related problems. Understanding the basic biological function of these genes in the nematode could have direct consequences for medical diagnosis and treatment in humans. On a broader level, the availability of thousands of gene knockouts in C. elegans will provide a powerful resource to study a range of basic problems in developmental biology. The impact of this project will be to accelerate the pace of gene discovery and functional analysis of individual genes and complex gene systems. The C. elegans Gene Knockout Facility at the University of British Columbia is part of an International Consortium. As such it is internationally recognized as a major research center for C. elegans genetics and genomic studies. The mutant strains we provide to the research community are a priceless resource. Because nematodes can be frozen these mutant strains are a permanent resource. This will be a significant and enduring legacy of Canadian science.