The use of functional genomics in C-elegans for studying human development and disease

The 100 Mb Caenorhabditis elegans genome sequence is the first animal genome to be sequenced in its entirety. Many reverse-genetics tools have been developed to mine the genome sequence and to facilitate the jump between the identification of a gene sequence and the understanding of its function. Here we discuss how C. elegans can contribute to understanding of the function of genes involved in human development and disease.