Worms return from space.(NEWS/NOUVELLES)

Canadian Chemical News, September, 2007

To say that Bob Johnsen was over the moon when he picked up worms at Cape Canaveral in Florida on June 19 is putting it mildly. Once he had his cargo in hand, the Simon Fraser University (SFU) associate researcher headed straight for the lab he shares with David Baillie. Baillie is an SFU professor of molecular biology and biochemistry and is also a Canada Research Chair in genomics.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The worms (C. elegans) returned from a stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Orbiting the earth since 2000, the ISS is continually inhabited by humans and other creatures. Six months at ISS was enough time for these worms to produce 25 generations. The C. elegans is the perfect organism to determine the impact of radiation exposure on...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.