WOrM Podcast: Whole Organism Analytics Podcast

About WOrM Podcast: Whole Organism Analytics Podcast

The Worm Podcast explores the latest research using worms to understand biology. Hosted by Dr Veeren Chauhan (University of Nottingham), each episode takes a recent paper and breaks down what was discovered, how it was done and why it matters. From C. elegans and Pristionchus pacificus to ageing, metabolism, neuroscience, behaviour, host–microbe interactions and analytical tools, the podcast follows new discoveries across biology. This podcast is generated with artificial intelligence and curated by Veeren. www.veerenchauhan.com veeren.chauhan@nottingham.ac.uk

Publisher

Dr Veeren Chauhan

Category

science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

21 Feb 2025

Latest episode

4 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

67 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   4 Nov 2026

   EPISODE 66: Fix the Brain, Save the Worm!

   Welcome to the next episode of The Worm Podcast! 🧠 Can repairing damaged DNA in a worm's neurons protect the rest of its body? Every cell must cope with DNA damage. When repair systems fail, the consequences can include impaired development, loss of tissue function and accelerated ageing. But researchers have now uncovered an unexpected way that one tissue can help another survive. 🧬 Switching DNA repair back on The team studied Caenorhabditis elegans lacking XPA-1, a protein essential for nucleotide excision repair (NER), which removes certain types of DNA damage caused by ultraviolet light. These worms were especially vulnerable to UV exposure. The researchers then restored XPA-1 in selected tissues, including the intestine, muscles and neurons, to see which could improve the animal's resilience. 🔬 The surprising power of neurons Restoring DNA repair in neurons alone substantially improved the worms' resistance to UV-induced damage, even though other tissues still lacked the repair pathway. It helped protect development, movement and adult survival. In many tests, the benefit approached that of restoring repair throughout the organism, although intestinal function was not fully rescued. So how could healthier neurons protect distant tissues? 📡 Acetylcholine carries the message The researchers investigated how neurons communicate with the body. Their experiments pointed to acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in transmitting signals between nerve cells and other tissues. When acetylcholine signalling was disrupted, the protective effect of neuronal DNA repair was lost. This suggests that maintaining neuronal communication is a key part of the whole-organism response to DNA damage. ⚡ Mitochondria connect the dots The study also examined mitochondria, the structures that support cellular energy production. DNA-repair-deficient worms showed reduced mitochondrial activity after UV exposure. Restoring repair in neurons helped preserve mitochondrial membrane potential and respiration across the animal. Disrupting mitochondrial function removed the protection, linking neuronal DNA repair, acetylcholine signalling and energy metabolism. 🧠 Why this matters The findings reveal how genome maintenance in one tissue can influence the health of others. They also offer a possible explanation for why defects in DNA repair can have effects far beyond the cells where damage first occurs. These results come from experiments in C. elegans. Whether similar protective pathways could be harnessed in humans remains an open question. 🪱 The take-home message DNA repair in the nervous system can help the whole worm withstand DNA damage. By maintaining acetylcholine signalling and mitochondrial activity, repaired neurons support tissues that remain unable to repair the same lesions themselves. A small nervous system can have a remarkably large influence on the rest of the body. 📄 Paper discussed Lopes da Silva et al. (2026). Neuronal DNA repair mediates systemic mitochondrial maintenance through acetylcholine signaling. Nucleic Acids Research. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkag976 (https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkag976) If you enjoyed this episode, follow and share The Worm Podcast ⭐ This podcast is generated with artificial intelligence and curated by Veeren. To suggest research for a future episode, please get in touch. www.veerenchauhan.com (http://www.veerenchauhan.com/) veeren.chauhan@nottingham.ac.uk (mailto:veeren.chauhan@nottingham.ac.uk)

2. 

   4 Nov 2026

   EPISODE 66: Press Pause, Wake the Worm

   Welcome to the next episode of The Worm Podcast 🔬 What if you could press pause on an animal’s life — and then press play again later? That is essentially what researchers have found in C. elegans. Simply crowding worms together in an isosmotic liquid can push them into a profound but reversible state of suspended animation. Development stops. Visible movement stops. Metabolism changes. And when conditions improve, the worms wake up. 🧠 Meet LISA The researchers call the phenomenon LISA — Liquid-Induced Suspended Animation. Worms placed at high population density in static M9 buffer rapidly entered this state, while animals kept at lower density or continuously dispersed continued developing. Remarkably, LISA could be induced across larval stages and even in adults. It was not simply starvation, dauer, heat shock or hypoxia. Adding food did not prevent it, and several familiar stress pathways were not required for entry. Something about being crowded together in the right liquid environment appears to tell the animal: stop. 🔬 What happens when a worm pauses? The worms are not simply doing nothing. RNA sequencing, metabolomics and live imaging showed extensive biological reprogramming. Mitochondria changed shape and showed signs of reduced activity. Energy and redox metabolism shifted. Lysosomes became highly remodelled, and disrupting key autophagy–lysosomal genes reduced survival during the suspended state. So LISA looks less like biological failure and more like an actively regulated survival programme. 🧠 How does the worm wake up? Perhaps the most interesting part comes when the animals are returned to normal conditions. Their nervous system helps control the restart. AFD sensory neurons and AIY interneurons promote awakening, while the sleep-associated RIS neuron acts in the opposite direction. PDF neuropeptide signalling and cAMP/PKA pathways then help drive behavioural recovery. And when the researchers artificially increased cAMP — including using optogenetic stimulation — the worms woke up faster. The return to activity is therefore not simply metabolism drifting back to normal. The animal appears to have a regulated wake-up programme. 🔬 Why this matters Suspended animation is interesting far beyond worms. Understanding how a multicellular animal can safely suppress development, movement and metabolism — and then restart them — could help reveal general principles of dormancy, stress resilience and biological time. The authors also highlight possible long-term relevance to areas such as organ preservation, trauma and deep-space travel, although controlled suspended animation has not been demonstrated in humans. 🧠 The take-home message Crowd enough worms together in the right liquid and life appears to hit pause. But underneath that stillness, the animal is actively reorganising its metabolism, organelles and nervous system so that it can survive — and eventually wake up again. Sometimes doing nothing takes a lot of biology. 📄 Paper discussed Junqiang Liu, Bingying Wang, Jonathan Leon Catrow, Quentinn Pearce, Zhijian Ji, Supeng Winnie Yang, Akash Balakrishnan, James E. Cox and Dengke K. Ma (2026) Induction and regulation of reversible suspended animation in C. elegans Nature Communications, 17:4627 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71247-9 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71247-9) If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, like, comment and share The Worm Podcast with someone who might enjoy it ⭐ It really helps us grow the community. If you would like your research discussed in a future episode of The Worm Podcast, please contact Dr Veeren Chauhan. 🔗 www.veerenchauhan.com (http://www.veerenchauhan.com) 📧 veeren.chauhan@nottingham.ac.uk (mailto:veeren.chauhan@nottingham.ac.uk)

3. 

   28 Oct 2026

   EPISODE 65: The Incredible Shrinking Worm Cell

   Welcome to the next episode of The Worm Podcast 🔬 We usually think of sensory neurons as the cells that detect the world, while glia sit behind the scenes supporting them. This paper turns that idea on its head. Researchers show that AMsh glial cells can detect temperature themselves — independently sensing both heat and cold — and then helping the nervous system decide how the worm should respond. 🔥 Glia can feel the heat When temperature rises, AMsh glia respond through GCY-28, a guanylyl cyclase that acts as a heat sensor. Removing GCY-28 largely eliminates the glial response to warming. Put it back specifically into the glia and that response returns. Even more strikingly, expressing GCY-28 in another cell type can give that cell a new response to heat. ❄️ And they can sense cold too The same glial cells also contain GLR-3, which acts as a cold sensor. So one glial cell can independently detect movement in both directions on the thermometer. The researchers even isolated AMsh glia from the worm and showed that individual cells still responded to heating and cooling. That is important. The glia are not simply reacting to signals arriving from neighbouring neurons. They are sensory cells in their own right. 🧠 A hub between hot and cold Detecting temperature is only half the story. AMsh glia then release GABA and influence two established thermosensory neurons in different ways. They enhance the warm-sensitive AFD neuron through the excitatory GABA receptor EXP-1. At the same time, they suppress prolonged cold signalling from the ASH neuron through the inhibitory receptor LGC-38. The authors describe this as a hub-and-spoke circuit. One glial hub senses the environment and then adjusts different neuronal pathways depending on what is happening. 🌡️ Changing what the worm actually does Manipulating these glia altered: • hot and cold avoidance • tolerance to extreme temperatures • thermotaxis • temperature preference So this is not simply an interesting calcium signal under a microscope. Glial temperature sensing changes whole-animal behaviour. 🔬 Why this matters Glia are increasingly being recognised as active participants in nervous systems rather than passive support cells. This study pushes that idea further. If glial cells can directly detect environmental information, integrate it and modify nearby sensory circuits, then some of the computation we normally attribute to neurons may actually begin before the neuronal network itself. And there are intriguing parallels beyond worms, because mammalian glia and other non-neuronal cells also express temperature-sensitive receptors. 🧠 The take-home message The worm does not sense temperature with neurons alone. Its glia can independently detect hot and cold, integrate those signals and tune the surrounding neural circuit. Sometimes the cells we thought were supporting the conversation are actually part of it. 📄 Paper discussed Linhui Zhu, Rong Li, Mengyi Qian, Fangjin Lv, Huitao Hong, Yumeng Li, Yongqi Zhou, Zhou Li, Jing Lei, Wenjuan Zou, Min-Xin Guan, Yongming Zhang, Guohua Zhao, Huan Ma, Jianke Gong and Lijun Kang (2026) A Glial Hub-and-Spoke Circuitry in C. elegans orchestrates bidirectional thermosensation Nature Communications, 17:1899 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68766-w (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68766-w?utm_source=chatgpt.com) If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, like, comment and share The Worm Podcast with someone who might enjoy it ⭐ It really helps us grow the community. If you would like your research discussed in a future episode of The Worm Podcast, please contact Dr Veeren Chauhan. 🔗 www.veerenchauhan.com (http://www.veerenchauhan.com) 📧 veeren.chauhan@nottingham.ac.uk (mailto:veeren.chauhan@nottingham.ac.uk)

Who has been a guest on WOrM Podcast: Whole Organism Analytics Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Francesco Randi
• Anuj K Sharma
• Sophie Dvali
• Andrew M Leifer
• Dipon Ghosh

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Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 30 / 100

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Quality

60

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

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