Most, if not all, studies of thrashing frequencies of swimming frequencies of C. elegans have been conducted using microscopic techniques. Microscopic techniques require microscopic life to remain in a focal plane within microns. Using microscopic techniques, the C. elegans are therefore ‘slipping and sliding’ on a microscope slide in a water droplet. The worms are then not truly freely swimming since they are making contact with the microscope slide. Using laser diffraction, we found that the average thrashing frequency of swimming C. elegans differs significantly from nematodes on a microscope slide by about 0.3 Hz. Our new article on thrashing thrashing frequencies of freely swimming C. elegans can be downloaded from the Open Journal of Biophysics: http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?paperID=21423
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