Left-right wiring determined by neural communication in the embryonic worm

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The AWC neuron on the worms left side (red) and the AWC neuron on its right (yellow) reflect a handedness that develops randomly in the C. elegans brain. This pattern is created by an unexpected network of gap junction channels in the worm embryo. Cr ...
The AWC neuron on the worm's left side (red) and the AWC neuron on its right (yellow) reflect a ”handedness” that develops randomly in the C. elegans brain. This pattern is created by an unexpected network of gap junction channels in the worm embryo. Credit: Rockefeller University

Most animals appear symmetrical at first glance, but we're full of internal lop-sidedness. From the hand used to pick up a pencil or throw a baseball, to where language is generated in the brain, to the orientation of our internal organs, humans are a glut of asymmetries. Worms aren't so different: The roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans has nerves on its left and right sides that perform different functions. Like handedness, the determination of which nerves develop on which side seems random from worm to worm.


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