Femtosecond Laser Nanosurgery and Study of Nerve Regeneration and Degeneration

Using femtosecond laser pulses, precision axotomy in a simple organism, Caenorhabditis elegans is demonstrated. This precise surgical technique opens for the first time experimental access to study nerve regeneration and degeneration in vivo in an organism with a simple nervous system. Since simple organisms like C. elegans provide tremendous research potential due to their amenable genetics and screening methods, application of femtosecond laser axotomy technique should allow rapid screening of genes and molecules affecting nerve regeneration and development