Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 20, 2026
Generation of Stable Transgenic C. elegans Using Microinjection
Published on: August 15, 2008
Caenorhabditis elegans Microinjection
Matthias Rieckher1, Nektarios Tavernarakis2,3
1Institute for Genome Stability in Aging and Disease, Medical Faculty, Cologne Excellence Cluster for Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), Joseph-Stelzmann-Str. 26, 50931 Cologne, Germany.
Abstract:
Microinjection is the most frequently used tool for genetic transformation of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, facilitating the transgenic expression of genes, genome editing by the clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas9 system, or transcription of dsRNA for RNA intereference (RNAi). Exogenous DNA is delivered into the developing oocytes in the germline of adult hermaphrodites, which then generate transgenic animals among their offspring. In this protocol, we describe the microinjection procedure and the subsequent selection of transgenic progeny.
