What Makes a Good Model System?

Model biological system philosophy:

We are unlikely to ever know everything about every organism. Therefore, we should agree on some convenient organism(s) to study in great depth, so that we can use the experience of the past (in that organism) to build on in the future. This will lead to a body of knowledge in that 'model system' that allows us to design appropriate studies of non-model systems to answer important questions about their biology.

• TH Huxley (1869) archetype deffinition.

Criteria for a model biological system:

• Is the organism used easy to rear?
• Is its rearing/operation size convenient?
• Is it inexpensive to operate?
• Does the organism used have short life cycle?
• Is the organism used geneticly manipulable?
• Does it promise economically important results?
• Dose it have an audience of interested people?
• Interactions between criteria.

What are some working Model Systems in Biology and Medicine?

• Visit the E. coli as a model system web page.
• Visit the Neurospora genome project -or- visit the Neurospora catalogue.
• Fission yeast, Saccharomyces Genome Database, SGD
• The plant, Arabidopsis, an NIH and NSF approved Model System.
• Plant Pollen Tubes:
  • Luis Vidali on Physcomitrella
  • Mark Lazzaro on Picea abies, Norway spruce
  • June Nasrallah on Brassica self-incompatibility
• Explore the viruses, virology podcast TWIV -or-
  A chapter on viruses. -or-
  A chapter on Structure and Classification of Viruses.
• Nature: Lab Animal
• The Lobster Cuticle Composite-Material Model
• The cockroach homepage: BlattaBase
  • Walking Model
  • Six-Legged Walking System
  • Walking Simulation
  • How to survive a robot uprising. Lab Animal 37, 9(2008).
  • Cockroaches aren't morning people. Lab Animal 36 9(2007).
  • Advancing artificial animals. Lab Animal 47 201-204 (2018).
• The fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster FlyBase Wiki - or - The Interactive Fly
• The cellular slime mold, dictyBase
• The Mosquito malaria model. | Tissue model of infection. | Dengue early warning system! |
• Zebra fish, Brachydanio rerio at ZFIN
  - Original NIH Sponsorship
• Surf Clams, Spisula solidissima, as a model system.
• African clawed toad, Xenopus laevis, Xenbase
• nematode, C. elegans -or- WormBase
• Visit the Jackson Laboratory, source of mutant mice, Mus musculus. | Diet Induced Obesity model.|
• Injury models:
  • Borgens Spinal Paralysis Lab
  • Guinea Pig Spinal Cord Injury.
• Non-Human Primate Models... The Macaque:
  • Human HIV Vacine Development
  • CurrentInsights from Macaque Model System
  • Alcohol and HIV at LSU.
  • Neuro-AIDS
  • Rhesus macaque genome may hold clues for human health...
• A model ecological system, lynx hare population dynamics