There are several invertebrate species that have been employed for alcohol studies. For FASD research, the microscopic nematode worm C. elegans is the most commonly used. While mammals offer significant advantages over invertebrates when examining brain structures or complex behaviors, simple invertebrates such as C. elegans can be extremely useful when examining basic biological development at the cellular, molecular, and genetic levels (145). The complete genome of C. elegans has been sequenced, and the simple nervous system contains only 302 neurons with 5000 synapses. Furthermore, the stages and timing of embryonic development are well characterized and a transparent egg allows for direct visualization of each of the developmental stages. A significant disadvantage to using this model is that the egg develops outside of the body and therefore alcohol exposure cannot occur as it does in human beings (via the placental membrane following oral ingestion). Instead, C. elegans eggs or newly hatched larvae are exposed to ethanol through bath application (145). Another disadvantage with this model is that BACs cannot be directly measured. However, if ethanol is applied at a 0.4
