The C. elegans bleaching solution is used for several purposes: - destroying and removing bacterial or fungal cells from a contaminated C. elegans population. This is possible because C. elegans eggs are resistant to the bleaching used in this protocol but most fungi and bacteria are not.- synchronising a C. elegans population consisting of worms at different developmental stages. This is possible because eggs are resistant to the bleaching used in this protocol but hatched worms (larvae and adults) are not.