OpenWorm: a digital model of a nematode worm in the browser
The tiny nematode, or the round worm Caenorhabditis elegans , about a millimeter long, is one of the most studied organisms on Earth. This is the first multicellular organism whose genome has been completely sequenced. C. elegans have two sexes - males and hermafordites. The adult hermafordite specimen consists of only 959 cells, and its nervous system consists of 302 neurons. All connections between neurons of C. elegans (connect) are also fully described. The abundance of comprehensive scientific information about this worm and the relative simplicity of its device several years ago inspired the employees of the AP Ershov Institute for Informatics Systems Modeling Laboratory of the SB RAS to create an exhaustive computer model of C. elegans.
Over time, the project attracted several dozens of participants around the world, but continued to remain obscure and inaccessible to the general public: it’s not so easy to understand the abundance of basic data relating to the worm’s device and the many subsystems of the model written in different programming languages, let alone already about how to install and run all this on your computer. At the same time, C. elegans is widely used in the study of biology, and the ability to “drive” the worm model, with details and in dynamics, to consider how it works, is difficult to overestimate. Therefore, the project team decided to make the model available online - so that anyone could just go to the project website and look at the “matrix” in which the virtual organism lives. This is the essence of the OpenWorm project on Kickstarter.
The creators of the model expect to collect 120 thousand dollars. During the first day, about 10% of this amount was collected, so the chances of success are quite good. Backers willing to donate from $ 49 will be given the opportunity to create a personalized model of C. elegans on the project’s website and observe its “life” - study the body inside and out with the help of three-dimensional visualization and observe the smallest, even individual cells, details of its vital activity.
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In addition, an online course will be created, explaining both the device of the worm itself and the algorithms and technologies used to create its model. All model source code will still be available under an open source license. The online course OpenWorm academy promises to start this summer, and work on the site with a simulation of the worm is expected to finish next spring.
Over time, the project attracted several dozens of participants around the world, but continued to remain obscure and inaccessible to the general public: it’s not so easy to understand the abundance of basic data relating to the worm’s device and the many subsystems of the model written in different programming languages, let alone already about how to install and run all this on your computer. At the same time, C. elegans is widely used in the study of biology, and the ability to “drive” the worm model, with details and in dynamics, to consider how it works, is difficult to overestimate. Therefore, the project team decided to make the model available online - so that anyone could just go to the project website and look at the “matrix” in which the virtual organism lives. This is the essence of the OpenWorm project on Kickstarter.
The creators of the model expect to collect 120 thousand dollars. During the first day, about 10% of this amount was collected, so the chances of success are quite good. Backers willing to donate from $ 49 will be given the opportunity to create a personalized model of C. elegans on the project’s website and observe its “life” - study the body inside and out with the help of three-dimensional visualization and observe the smallest, even individual cells, details of its vital activity.
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In addition, an online course will be created, explaining both the device of the worm itself and the algorithms and technologies used to create its model. All model source code will still be available under an open source license. The online course OpenWorm academy promises to start this summer, and work on the site with a simulation of the worm is expected to finish next spring.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/220095/
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