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?

• Visit the E. coli Database Portal
• Visit the Neurospora genome project -or- visit the Neurospora catalogue.
• Fission yeast, Saccharomyces Genome Database, SGD
• The plant, Arabidopsis
• Plant Pollen Tubes:
  • Luis Vidali on Physcomitrella
  • Mark Lazzaro on Picea abies, Norway spruce
  • June Nasrallah on Brassica self-incompatibility
  • AG Kost on Polarized Cell Growth
• Explore the viruses, virology
• The cockroach homepage: BlattaBase
  • Zill Walking Model Lab
  • Walking Model
  • Legged Walking Robots
  • Walking Simulation
• The fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster FlyBase at Indiana - or - The Interactive Fly
• The cellular slime mold, dictyBase
• The Mosquito malaria model. | Tissue model of infection. | Dengue early warning system! | Disease risk. |
• 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:
  • Traumatic brain Injury.
  • Spinal Cord Injury.
  • 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