The Worm Podcast7 Touko 2025

EPISODE 12: Grow Fast, Grow Smart – How Worms Keep Their Size in Check

Why don’t fast-growing worms end up giants and slow ones stay tiny? In this episode, we explore how Caenorhabditis elegans uses a clever trick: coupling growth rate with developmental speed to keep body sizes uniform.

Live imaging reveals that worms with faster growth develop quicker, while slower growers take their time — cancelling out size differences. Instead of strict size checkpoints (like many cells use), C. elegans uses a “folder” strategy, fine-tuned by an internal genetic oscillator.

We cover:

Why worms don’t follow traditional “adder” or “sizer” models
How growth and development are linked by a biological clock
How tweaking this oscillator shifts final body size
Why this simple coupling helps worms beat random size divergence

📖 Based on the research article:

“Coupling of growth rate and developmental tempo reduces body size heterogeneity in C. elegans”

Klement Stojanovski, Helge Großhans & Benjamin D. Towbin.

Published in Nature Communications (2022).

🔗 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29720-8

🎧 Subscribe to the WoRM Podcast for more stories where physics, biology, and evolution collide!

This podcast is generated with artificial intelligence and curated by Veeren. If you’d like your publication featured on the show, please get in touch.

📩 More info:

🔗 ⁠www.veerenchauhan.com⁠

📧 veeren.chauhan@nottingham.ac.uk

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