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Fostering Communication Between Nematologists Worldwide

The goals of IFNS are:
. to foster global awareness of nematodes and advancement of the science of nematology;
. to serve as a worldwide interface for nematology societies, promoting communication, education, research and outreach.

 

Why are nematodes such amazingly interesting organisms?

Nematodes or roundworms are everywhere.
They are among the most harmful organisms of crops, especially in the tropics, but they are also very promising as natural antagonists that can be used in bio-control programmes against pest insects.
Because of their ubiquitous presence, overwhelming densities and diversity (sometimes compared to insects) free-living nematodes are an ideal tool for biodiversity studies.They are used as bio-indicators of pollution in both terrestrial and aquatic environments.
Nematode species such as Caenorhabditis elegans are also used as model organisms for investigating diverse biological processes.They have short generation times, are easy to culture and their genome size is small. Since it became apparent that they show remarkable similarity of genes with those in humans, they have been introduced in studies on aging and pathological processes found in humans.

 

 
     

 

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