How does a one-millimetre worm help win four Nobel Prizes? In this episode, we explore how C. elegans became one of the most influential organisms in modern biology — not because of its size, but because of its community.Researchers, beginning with Sydney Brenner’s vision, built an ecosystem of radical openness: shared strains, shared annotations, shared tools, shared knowledge. This culture powered breakthroughs in apoptosis, GFP, RNA interference, and microRNAs, each recognised with a Nobel Prize.We discuss how the CGC, WormBase, WormAtlas, open imaging libraries, and collaborative genetics transformed a tiny worm into a global scientific powerhouse. It’s the story of a field that chose to share — and in doing so, changed biology.Key themes:• The collaborative backbone behind worm research• Why sharing strains and data accelerated Nobel-winning discoveries• How open tools shaped genetics, neuroscience, and ageing research• The social and scientific architecture of a uniquely supportive community• Why C. elegans is still leading modern multi-omics and connectomicsBased on the research article:🎧 Subscribe to the WOrM Podcast“From nematode to Nobel: How community-shared resources fueled the rise of Caenorhabditis elegans as a research organism”Victor R. Ambros, Martin Chalfie, Aric L. Daul, Andrew Z. Fire, David H. Hall, H. Robert Horvitz, Craig C. Mello, Gary Ruvkun, Nathan E. Schroeder, Paul W. Sternberg & Ann E. Rougvie.PNAS (2025)🔗 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2522808122 🎧 Subscribe to the WOrM PodcastWhole-organism stories from molecules to behaviour.www.veerenchauhan.com

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