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Articles on Model organism

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As an animal model, the zebrafish offers many advantages that save researchers time and money. Uri Manor/NICHD via Flickr

Zebrafish are a scientist’s favorite for early-stage research – especially to study human blood disorders

Gabrielle Dubansky, Iowa State University and Raquel Espín-Palazón, Iowa State University

Of the many qualities that make the zebrafish a model organism, the fact that it shares 70% of the genes humans have makes it an ideal candidate for developmental biology research.
The melanocytes in zebrafish stripes share many similarities to those in people. Dan Olsen/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Zebrafish share skin-deep similarities with people, making them helpful models to study skin conditions like vitiligo and melanoma

Craig Ceol, UMass Chan Medical School

Zebrafish melanocytes cause diseases similar to those in people when they don’t work properly. Studying how they regenerate after injury could lead to new treatments for hair color loss and vitiligo.
E. coli as a model organism helped researchers better understand how DNA works. Ed Horowitz Photography/The Image Bank via Getty Images

E. coli is one of the most widely studied organisms – and that may be a problem for both science and medicine

Megan Keller, Cornell University and Tobias Dörr, Cornell University

Researchers uncovered the foundations of biology by using E. coli as a model organism. But over-reliance on this microbe can lead to knowledge blind spots with implications for antibiotic resistance.

Related Topics

  1. Antibiotic resistance
  2. Bacteria
  3. Cell signaling
  4. Induced pluripotent stem cells
  5. Melanocyte
  6. Microbes
  7. Recombination
  8. Stem cells
  9. Tissue regeneration
  10. Zebrafish

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