|
Dear colleagues,
it's with the greatest pleasure that I welcome all of you to our network website. The network has been established with financial support of NordForsk from 2010 to 2013 and it aims at strengthening the collaboration within laboratories located in the Nordic area and contributing to researcher training in state-of-art technological resources. The website is not only an interface with the international C. elegans community, but also a direct contact to learn about the scientific interests and expertise of each laboratory participating to the network. It will be through the website that we will announce the future activities of the network, that include annual meetings and practical courses. The website will also be a deposit of past experiences, accumulated during the first C. elegans network.
I wish to thank all the network participants that contributed to the application to the Researchers Network Program and the NordForsk that, once again, generously supports and encourages our projects.
Lisa Salcini, Ph.D
Network Coordinator
Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is a 1 mm nematode and model organism used in research, education, and industry. It has many scientific advantages and the benefits inherent in such a model system have been recognized by the awarding of the Nobel Prize to six C. elegans researchers during the past 8 years (Physiology and Medicine prize, 2002 and 2006; Chemistry prize in 2008).
The number of laboratories in Nordic countries utilizing C. elegans as the principle laboratory organism increased in the past few years and they are now spread to several countries (Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Sweden, Finland and Norway). Their number is now estimated to be 22, with interests in different aspects of the nematode life and the common ultimate goal to unravel basic, evolutionary conserved, biological mechanisms underlying human diseases.
In 2007 Nordforsk funded the creation of a C. elegans network between the Nordic countries creating the basis for an extended cooperation among different laboratories, by supporting exchange of students, annual meetings and courses.
In 2010 Nordforsk funded a novel researchers' network based on shared technology platforms. The main aim of the network is to advance scientific knowledge by:
- Coordinating the access of Nordic C. elegans laboratories to state-of-art technological resources presently located in the Swedish C. elegans Infrastructure Center
- Supporting annual meetings and technical workshops / practical courses
Two novel and powerful technological platforms have been acquired and/or implemented by Swedish C. elegans laboratories with participants from Stockholm, Umeå, Uppsala and Gothenburg and located in the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Novum, Huddinge, Karolinska Institute.
|
