OpenWorm Is An Open-Source Virtual Worm, Accurate In Every Way
Elegant Elegans The OpenWorm 3D Browser iPhone app lets you peek into C. elegans at the cellular level. MetaCell, LLCAn international programming project aims to create virtual nematode life. Predictive models are essential in engineering fields, but less common in biology, though accurate simulations of living organisms could help us understand disease, drug efficacy and neuroscience. OpenWorm, a new open-source project devoted to creating a complete virtual model of a worm, aims to bring simulation into the living world by creating a digital organism--C. elegans, a nematode commonly used as a model organism in biology research. The goal is to make a digital worm that mimics its biological counterpart in essentially every way, from the molecular level to behavioral patterns. The project's creators explain their reasoning like this: Because we believe brain research must accelerate, we are taking matters into our own hands. If we cannot build a...