OpenWorm

»OpenWorm« aims to build the first comprehensive computational model of »Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans)«, a microscopic roundworm. With only a thousand cells, »C. elegans« solves basic problems, such as feeding, mate-finding, and predator avoidance. Despite being extremely well studied in biology, this organism still eludes a deep, principled understanding of its biology. 

We are using a bottom-up approach, aimed at observing the worm’s behavior emerge from a simulation of data derived from scientific experiments carried out over the past decade. To do this, we are incorporating the data available from the scientific community into software models. We are engineering Geppetto and »Sibernetic«, open source simulation platforms, to be able to run these different models in concert. We are also forging new collaborations with universities and research institutes to collect data that fill in the gaps.

The documentation of the project is available online.