Model Organisms in Biological Research - Prasun Kumar

Various branches of biological, clinical, and environmental research depend on availability of a suitable model organism, which can mimic the actual application platform, while allowing reasonable pace of work. Research on some of the pathogens (e.g. some obligate intracellular parasites including viruses) have suffered owing to non-availability of a good model organism. On the other hand, some organisms fitted so well the criteria of being an acceptable model, that they became indispensable for research in specific domains. For example, Escherichia coli since decades has remained a handy model for bacteriological research, and one of the most popular platforms for expressing cloned genes. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used widely as a model yeast, and also as a platform for bioprocess intensification for industrial alcohol production. Candida albicans serves as a model for pathogenic yeasts. Mycobacterium smegmatis has offered the opportunity to researchers to develop useful insights into the genus Mycobacterium without always taking the risk of working with M. tuberculosis. The pre-clinical research in the field of medicine has relied heavily on pigs, mice, rats, and primates as model organisms. However, in recent years, there has been serious ethical concerns raised over use of higher animals in research labs, and strategies are being envisaged to reduce their sacrifice. In this view, three lower organisms have gained popularity, at least for preliminary in vivo studies. They are Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, and Zebrafish. Though they are not new to biology labs, their use has gained wider popularity in last two decades, and availability of their transgenic strains has contributed notably towards their widespread use. On the other hand, introduction of humanized models of higher animals has also been started. While use of conventional model organisms still continues, the alternative models (nematode, fly, zebrafish) are gaining popularity, new models are being proposed, the regulatory agencies globally are trying to reduce the animal sacrifice in biological and pharmaceutical research. 'Organ on chip' type of novel approaches are also contributing their bit in reducing use of model animals in research. The field is changing and evolving continuously and dynamically, and there is a need for researchers in the field of biology, pharmacy, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, toxicology, and environmental sciences to keep themselves updated.

In the above mentioned context, this book aims to feature manuscripts from leading researchers working on different model organisms. This collection is expected to showcase advantages and limitations of different model organisms for pre-clinical research, high throughput screening for drug discovery, environmental toxicology, and basic biological research, etc.