ere are a few of the many examples:
Yeast cell. Credit: Carolyn Larabell, University of California, San Francisco, and the Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryYeast studies sorted out the orderly sequence of events, called the cell cycle, in which a cell duplicates its contents and divides into two. This information has benefited millions of people, since many drugs used to treat cancer act by interfering with the cell cycle.
Experiments performed with yeast have also clarified how genes are turned on or off. This knowledge explains how cells that contain the same genes can be so different from one another, which has advanced understanding of both normal developmental processes and diseases that occur when genes are turned on or off at the wrong time or in the wrong cell.
Studies in fruit flies and tiny worms taught scientists key aspects of how fertilized eggs develop into complex organisms. In the course of these studies, researchers made unanticipated discoveries, such as learning that genetically controlled cell death plays a critical role in cancer and other diseases.
Roundworms.
Research with bacteria, viruses and yeast has revealed how all living things pass on their genes to offspring through copying DNA and fixing mistakes that get made during the copying process.
Laboratory rats have been used for many decades to test drugs. In addition, much of what we know about cancer-causing molecules was learned through basic research with rats.
Mice can be genetically engineered to serve as models of Lou Gehrig's disease and many other human illnesses.
Insects such as fruit flies and honeybees are important models for learning how genes and the environment interact to affect behavior.
Studies with fruit flies, bread mold, bacteria and mice have defined the basic rules of circadian clocks, which drive daily biological rhythms, and revealed connections between these clocks and sleep deprivation, obesity, diabetes, depression and other human health conditions.
DNA chip.
Research in worms has yielded important information about aging. This research is very difficult to do in people and other organisms that have long life spans.
Model organism research has produced many powerful tools used by scientists all over the world. Examples include RNA interference, DNA chips and genome-wide scanning methods. These tools are now being used in human health studies.