CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS WORMS BY NUMBERS

20,500

Number of genes

1,000

Number of eggs produced daily

ONE

millimetre in length

14

Time taken, in hours, to

hatch an egg

0

skeletal elements

302

neurons in their nervous system

THREE

Maximum life span in weeks

1,033

Maximum number

of cells

TWO

sexes: male and hermaphrodite

1963

Year the worms were

first studied