Model organisms are organisms used for study due to their representative physiology, convenience, and rapid reproduction. They have taught scientists about biology and psychology, but some are abused in violent experiments. The complexity of the organism determines the type of study, with simpler organisms used for basic physiology and more complex ones for advanced studies.
In science, a model organism is an organism often used for study and experiment and may be considered a representative example of a class of organism or have a particularly interesting or easily studied physiology or psychology. Model organisms are also selected for convenience and rapid reproduction. Examples include the bacterium Escherichia coli, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), albino brown rats (Rattus norvegicus, also called “laboratory rats”), mice (Mus musculus), and humans ( homo sapiens). That’s just a short list: In total, there are many dozens of model organisms, from viruses to fungi to plants and both invertebrates and vertebrates.
Model organisms have taught scientists, and by extension the human race, enormous amounts of biology and psychology. Because of model organisms, we know that brains are made of neurons, bodies function purely mechanically (rather than being animated by a “life force” as argued by Henri Bergson in 1907), how each organ works in minute detail and how diseases and mutations affect the body.
To the dismay of animal rights activists, model organisms are sometimes completely abused or tortured by violent experiments. Many institutions have responded by experimenting on lower model organisms or using computer simulations when possible, conducting more humane experiments, and refraining from experiments on higher model organisms unless absolutely necessary.
The complexity of the model organism at hand is usually a clue to what it is being used to study. For example, roundworms are fairly simple multicellular organisms and are often used to study the basics of physiology, such as how the brain directs body parts. The superlative example of this is the roundworm C. elegans, which has been studied so extensively that scientists know where every cell in its body goes and how these cells develop and differentiate during the process of embryogenesis. More complex animals, such as cats or rats, are used for more complex studies, such as studies of vision or subtle psychological characteristics.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
