The worm has turned: DIY lab platform evaluates new molecules in minutes
Plants are powerhouses of molecular manufacturing. Over the eons, they have evolved to produce a plethora of small molecules—some are beneficial and valuable to humans, while others can be deadly. For years, a good way for scientists looking for new medicines to distinguish beneficial plant-derived molecules from harmful ones has been through a scientific sniff test—dab a bit of the molecule at one end of a petri dish and drop tiny nematode worms (C. elegans) at the other, then wait to see if the... Читать дальше...