Nematode Infection Prevention

The Caenorhabditis elegans is a nematode that has a cuticle surrounding the body to protect it from infections. "Sun and her colleagues used technologies such as gene silencing and CRISPR gene editing to show that a G-protein-coupled receptor tied to a gene called npr-8 regulates collagens, proteins that are the key structural components of the nematode's cuticle (Science Daily)." The npr-8 receptor was removed and then found that the nematodes actually lived longer when they came into contact with infections.

I think that this discovery is very beneficial in the studies of humans and their prevention in infections. Using the findings of these nematodes, it's curious to think that there may be a receptor in humans that, when modified in some way, could slow down infections or even lead to prevention of them.

“Genetic Discovery Holds Implications for Better Immunity, Longer Life.” ScienceDaily, 
ScienceDaily, 20 Nov. 2019, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191120144950.htm.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191120144950.htm

https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/11/eaaw4717.full