Taxonomy tells us that technically, we are all fish — which is one of the reasons zebrafish are such useful model organisms. Their conveniently transparent embryos and fast maturation time have taught us about vertebrate development, neuroscience, drug development, and more.
Modeling is not just a job for humans — it is also a job for many different organisms. And like human modeling, biological modeling turns out to be surprisingly glamorous and diverse. But what comes to mind when you picture a “model organism”? A mouse? A pesky fruit fly? ...
This blog post was written by Dr. Kutubuddin Molla, investigator at ICAR-Central National Rice Research Institute. When it comes to genome editing, CRISPR is a name that resonates with nearly every biologist, academic, and researcher. Among the most well-known CRISPR-associated ...
Injections in mice are a day-to-day task for many labs. Deciding which type of injection to use depends on a number of factors. You have to weigh the pros and cons of various methods and choose what is best for you — and the mice. While not an exhaustive list, these can include ...
We all know that yeast is a powerful eukaryotic model organism – its genome is easy to manipulate, it’s affordable, and it grows fast to boot. The yeast strains S. cerevisiae and S. pombe have dominated the research scene. But what about the other yeasts – in the biomedical ...
This post was contributed by guest blogger, Robert Orr, who recently received a Ph.D. in Biology and Biotechnology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. What is RNAi? The loss-of-function (LOF) experiment functions as the building block of our understanding of complex biological ...
By Justin Ng and Alyssa Cecchetelli Science is a constantly evolving and demanding field, requiring a variety of biological and molecular tools. One such tool is the model organism, an essential aspect of biological research that has defined our understanding of biological ...
Until recently, there were no completely genetic tools that would allow researchers to label just a fraction of a single genetically-defined subset of cells. By labeling fewer cells in a population, it’s easier to visualize individual/non-overlapping cells. While transgenic ...
