How the body works

Model organisms: Fish

Two species of fish are widely used as model organisms: the zebrafish primarily because of its experimental and genetic amenability, and the pufferfish because of its extraordinarily compact genome. 29/08/02

Model organisms: Frogs and chickens

Frogs and chickens provide good experimental models of vertebrate development and have therefore been adopted as model organisms even though they are not suitable for genetic analysis. 29/08/02

Model organisms: The fruit fly

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has the longest history of any model organism and has been widely used to study genetics and developmental biology. 29/08/02

Model organisms: The mouse

The mouse is closely related to humans so most human genes have functional mouse counterparts and the genome is organised in a very similar manner. 29/08/02

Model organisms: The nematode worm

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a very simple animal that can be handled like a microbe but it shares many genes and molecular pathways with humans. 29/08/02

Model organisms: Yeast

Baker's yeast is one of the simplest eukaryotic organisms but many essential cellular processes are conserved between yeast and humans. 29/08/02

What are model organisms?

Model organisms are easy to breed and study in the laboratory, and are used to obtain information about other species that cannot be studied directly. 29/08/02