In this episode, we dive into a new version of WormGazer as described in a recent GeroScience paper. This implementation automates movement monitoring in C. elegans populations as a rapid healthspan measure, offering a shortcut to detect ageing interventions and trade-offs.Highlights include: • Monitoring multiple Petri dishes in parallel with cameras and image analysis over 7–14 days • Showing that most functional decline happens in the first week of adulthood • Validating with age-1(hx546) mutants, which remain active longer but move more slowly early on • A dose-response test with sulfamethoxazole (SMX) where movement improvements are detectable within 7 days, compared to 40 days needed for traditional lifespan assays • The benefit: non-invasive, scalable, and faster detection of ageing effects and negative trade-offs 📖 Based on the research article:“Rapid measurement of ageing by automated monitoring of movement of C. elegans populations”Giulia Zavagno, Adelaide Raimundo, Andy Kirby, Christopher Saunter & David WeinkovePublished in GeroScience (November 2023) 🔗 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-023-00998-w 🎧 Subscribe to the WOrM Podcast for more breakthroughs in whole-organism ageing, automation, and quantitative biology.🔗 www.veerenchauhan.com

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