Technical Report Writing on

Topic: Model Organisms for Study Of Biology

Submitted By
Name: Koustav Chatterjee
Department: CSE
Semester: 4th
Roll Number: 16931121024
1. Abstract
A model organism is a non-human species that is extremely studied to understand particular
biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism
will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Model organisms are widely used
to research human disease when human experimentation would be unfeasible or unethical.
This strategy is made possible by the common descent of all living organisms, and the
conservation of metabolic and developmental pathways and genetic material over the
course of evolution.

2. Introduction
Studying model organisms can be informative, but care must be taken when generalizing
from one organism to another. In researching human disease, model organisms allow for
better understanding the disease process without the added risk of harming an actual
human. The species chosen will usually meet a determined taxonomic equivalency to
humans, so as to react to disease or its treatment in a way that resembles human
physiology as needed. Although biological activity in a model organism does not ensure an
effect in humans, many drugs, treatments and cures for human diseases are developed in
part with the guidance of animal models.

Model organisms have the following characteristics:

 Maturity occurs quickly.

 Life expectancy is limited.
 Simple to work with.
 Capacity to produce a big number of children.

There are three main types of disease models: homologous, isomorphic and predictive.

Homologous: They have the same causes, symptoms and treatment options as would
humans who have the same disease.

Isomorphic: They share the same symptoms and treatments.

Predictive: These are similar to a particular human disease in only a couple of aspects, but
are useful in isolating and making predictions about mechanisms of a set of disease
features.

Understanding the progression of disease in human, for example, could take a long period.
A model organism on the other hand has many ability to develop a disease and its
symptoms quickly. This aids scientists in quickly learning and comprehending the condition.
As a result, model organisms have evolved into critical instruments in therapeutic research.
3. Discussion
There are many model organisms. One of the first model systems for molecular biology was
the bacterium Escherichia coli, a common constituent of the human digestive system.
Several of the bacterial viruses (bacteriophage) that infect E.coli also have been very useful
for the study of gene structure and gene regulation (e.g. phages Lamba and T4). However, it
is debated whether bacteriophages should be classified as organisms, because they lack
metabolism and depend on functions of the host cells for propagation.

Model organisms are drawn from all three domains of life, as well as viruses. Examples
include Escherichia coli, baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevesiae), the T4 phage virus, the
fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana, guinea pigs
(Cavia porcellus), and the mouse (Mus musculus).

Research using animal models has been central to many of the achievements of modern
medicine. It has contributed most of the basic knowledge in fields such as human physiology
and biochemistry, and has played significant roles in fields such as neuroscience and
infectious disease. The famous model organisms are given below:

1. Mus musculus (The House Mouse)

It is the most preferred mammalian model organism of many researchers because they
have short generation time. Adult mice often reproduce every three weeks and because
the scientists simultaneously can observe different generations of mice at a time.

2. Drosophila melanogaster (The fruit fly)

The fruit fly has been used in scientific research for over a century. It was taken to the
forefront by Thomas Hunt Morgan, the “father” of Drosophila research. Morgan found
that the genes found within chromosomes by using the fruit fly far before we even knew
that DNA was a kind of genetic material.

3. Saccharomyces cerevesiae (Yeast)

It is the simplest eukaryotic organism and is commonly used model organism in scientific
research. It is simple, cheap, and easy to work with as they can survive in different
environmental conditions, and gets double every 2 hours. It is very amenable to genetic
manipulation.

4. Danio rerio (Zebrafish)

They share up to 70% of their genes with humans and 85% of their genes with humans
associated with a disease with a homolog in zebrafish. They are small and easily
maintained because they are housed in large groups, easily bred and produce 50-300
eggs in one instance. The embryos are laid and fertilized externally, allowing scientists to
 manipulate them easily. Scientists can inject one-celled embryos with either RNA/DNA
to edit their genomes or create transgenic animals.

5. Cenorhabditis elegans (The worm)

Elegans are small, transparent worms with rapid life cycle and large brood sizes. The
majority of C. Elegans are self-fertile hermaphrodites making it easy to conduct
extensive experiments over multiple generations. Elegans have an ortholog, making it
ideal for studying the processes of basic molecular biology.

4. Conclusion
This is a short exploration of the concept of the ‘model organism’ in contemporary biology.
Thinking of model organism enables us to examine how living organisms have been brought
into the laboratory and used to gain a better understanding of biology, and to explore the
research practices, commitments, and norms underlying this understanding. We are
contented that the model organisms are key components of a distinctive way of doing
research.

5. References
 https://www.yourgenome.org
 https://en.m.wikipedia.org
 https://www.vedantu.com