History of model organisms

Animal testing
Main articles
Animal testing Alternatives to animal testing Animal testing regulations History of animal testing History of model organisms IACUC Laboratory animal sources Pain and suffering in laboratory animals Testing cosmetics on animals Toxicology testing Vivisection
Testing on
Invertebrates Frogs Primates Rabbits Rodents
Issues
Medical research Animal rights Animal welfare Animals (Scientific Procedures) Great ape research ban International primate trade
Cases
Brown Dog affair Cambridge University primates Pit of despair Silver Spring monkeys UCR 1985 laboratory raid Unnecessary Fuss
Companies
Charles River Laboratories Fortrea Inotiv Jackson Laboratory Nafovanny UK lab animal suppliers
Groups/campaigns
AALAS AAAS ALF Americans for Medical Progress Boyd Group Cruelty Free International Dr. Hadwen Trust Foundation for Biomedical Research FRAME National Anti-Vivisection Society New England Anti-Vivisection Society PETA Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Primate Freedom Project Pro-Test SPEAK campaign SHAC Speaking of Research Understanding Animal Research
Writers/activists
Tipu Aziz Michael Balls Neal D. Barnard Colin Blakemore Simon Festing Gill Langley Ingrid Newkirk Bernard Rollin Jerry Vlasak Syed Ziaur Rahman
Categories
Animal testing Animal rights Animal welfare
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Model organisms are specific organisms studied to gain knowledge of other organisms, to generalize both within and between species. Model organisms offer standards for comparison of other organisms.^[1] Model organism strains are standardized by inbreeding and cloning, to limit genetic variation and create a precise basis for comparison.^[1] Some organisms are experimentally convenient and/or important for their history and research community.

The idea of the model organism first took root in the middle of the 19th century with the work of scientists like Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel and their respective work on natural selection and the genetics of heredity. Beginning in the early 1900s, laboratory experimentation on Drosophila was expanded to use tobacco mosaic virus, E. coli, C57BL/6 (lab mice), etc. These organisms have led to many advances in the past century.