# Caenorhabditis Genetics Center

> **NIH NIH P40** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2022 · $409,764

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract—Resource Component
The objective of the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center (CGC) Resource Component is to promote research on
the small metazoan Caenorhabditis elegans by curating important, genetically characterized nematode stocks
and distributing them upon request to researchers and science educators. The CGC is the sole general stock
center for the curation and distribution of C. elegans. The CGC currently houses 23,000 different strains, and
they are immensely popular: ~30,000 strains are distributed to thousands of laboratories each year, and the
majority are sent to user groups in the United States. Strains are distributed upon request through an on-line
ordering system with a scheme of user fees in place to help defray costs and support CGC activities.
Researchers in all locales supply us with important strains that they have generated. If the CGC were not
performing this curation and distribution service, strain sharing would be extremely inefficient and costly; the
burden of filling requests would be placed upon individual labs, likely leading to delays in the exchange of
research materials. Moreover, the conservation of many published strains might be in jeopardy. This would be
a great loss, because research in this model organism has led to fundamental insights into basic biological
mechanisms, including programmed cell death, axonal guidance, and the mechanism of RNA interference in
animals. C. elegans has also provided insights to mechanisms of cancer progression and neurodegenerative
diseases, and this nematode serves as a key model for illuminating the biology of parasitic nematodes, a major
health concern. In addition to enhancing research progress, the CGC Resource Component offers major cost-
savings to the NIH as a whole, to individual research labs funded by NIH, and to all other labs in the
community. These savings are achieved through decreasing redundant labor by making new mutations and
mutant combinations readily available, decreasing labor and other costs by providing an economy-of-scale
approach rather than having individual labs responsible for disseminating useful strains, safeguarding strains
made with NIH grant support through curation in redundant sites, and facilitating the use of this relatively low-
cost model by investigators working primarily in high-cost models such as mice.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10413374
- **Project number:** 2P40OD010440-11
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Ann E. Rougvie
- **Activity code:** P40 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $409,764
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2012-09-01 → 2027-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10413374

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10413374, Caenorhabditis Genetics Center (2P40OD010440-11). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10413374. Licensed CC0.

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