Research Group: Colour Pattern Formation, Max-Planck-Institute for Biology, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Jul 26;119(30):e2122148119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2122148119. Epub 2022 Jul 18.
In Darwin's and Mendel's times, researchers investigated a wealth of organisms, chosen to solve particular problems for which they seemed especially well suited. Later, a focus on a few organisms, which are accessible to systematic genetic investigations, resulted in larger repertoires of methods and applications in these few species. Genetic animal model organisms with large research communities are the nematode , the fly , the zebrafish and the mouse Due to their specific strengths, these model organisms have their strongest impacts in rather different areas of biology. is unbeatable in the analysis of cell-to-cell contacts by saturation mutagenesis, as worms can be grown very fast in very high numbers. In , a rich pattern is generated in the embryo as well as in adults that is used to unravel the underlying mechanisms of morphogenesis. The transparent larvae of zebrafish are uniquely suited to study organ development in a vertebrate, and the superb versatility of reverse genetics in the mouse made it the model organism to study human physiology and diseases. The combination of these models allows the in-depth genetic analysis of many fundamental biological processes using a plethora of different methods, finally providing many specific approaches to combat human diseases. The plant model provides an understanding of many aspects of plant biology that might ultimately be useful for breeding crops.
在达尔文和孟德尔时代，研究人员研究了大量生物体，选择它们是为了解决特定的问题，这些生物体似乎特别适合解决这些问题。后来，研究重点集中在少数几种易于进行系统遗传研究的生物体上，这些生物体的方法和应用也更加广泛。具有大型研究群体的遗传动物模型生物是线虫、果蝇、斑马鱼和老鼠。由于它们具有特定的优势，这些模型生物在生物学的不同领域产生了非常强的影响。线虫在通过饱和诱变分析细胞间接触方面是无与伦比的，因为线虫可以非常快速地在大量培养。在果蝇中，胚胎和成虫中都会产生丰富的模式，用于揭示形态发生的潜在机制。斑马鱼的透明幼虫非常适合研究脊椎动物的器官发育，而小鼠中反向遗传学的出色多功能性使其成为研究人类生理学和疾病的模型生物。这些模型的结合允许使用大量不同的方法对许多基本的生物学过程进行深入的遗传分析，最终为治疗人类疾病提供了许多具体的方法。植物模型提供了对植物生物学许多方面的理解，这些理解最终可能对作物的培育有用。
