Model Organisms

Model Organisms PDF Author: Rachel A. Ankeny
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110866556X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 165

Get Book Here

Book Description
This Element presents a philosophical exploration of the concept of the 'model organism' in contemporary biology. Thinking about model organisms enables us to examine how living organisms have been brought into the laboratory and used to gain a better understanding of biology, and to explore the research practices, commitments, and norms underlying this understanding. We contend that model organisms are key components of a distinctive way of doing research. We focus on what makes model organisms an important type of model, and how the use of these models has shaped biological knowledge, including how model organisms represent, how they are used as tools for intervention, and how the representational commitments linked to their use as models affect the research practices associated with them. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Model Organisms

Model Organisms PDF Author: Rachel A. Ankeny
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110866556X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 165

Get Book Here

Book Description
This Element presents a philosophical exploration of the concept of the 'model organism' in contemporary biology. Thinking about model organisms enables us to examine how living organisms have been brought into the laboratory and used to gain a better understanding of biology, and to explore the research practices, commitments, and norms underlying this understanding. We contend that model organisms are key components of a distinctive way of doing research. We focus on what makes model organisms an important type of model, and how the use of these models has shaped biological knowledge, including how model organisms represent, how they are used as tools for intervention, and how the representational commitments linked to their use as models affect the research practices associated with them. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

The Biological Resources of Model Organisms

The Biological Resources of Model Organisms PDF Author: Robert L. Jarret
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1351587773
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 309

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book discusses 14 model organisms and are used by thousands of researchers, teachers, and students each year in laboratories and classrooms, around the globe. Though acknowledged in innumerable scientific journal articles, little is generally known about the origin of these collections, how the organisms contained within them have been acquired, and how they are maintained and distributed. While some collections such as Drosophila have long histories others, such as the collection of Brachionus, are relatively new. They vary greatly in size. Yet, all have contributed and are continuing to contribute to global research efforts in many areas of scientific research as diverse as tissue regeneration, skin cancer, evolution, water purity, gene function, and hundreds of others. In addition to providing the raw materials for national and international research programs, these collections also provide educational tools used by colleges and high schools. The chapters in this book attempt to provide a brief look at the individual organisms, how they came to be accepted as model organisms, the history of the individual collections, examples of how the organisms have been and are being used in scientific research, and a description of the facilities and procedures used to maintain them. Features: • Provides an in-depth look at the collections of 14 model organisms that have enabled innumerable scientific breakthroughs over decades, and that continue to do so. • Includes detailed descriptions of the operating procedures used for the maintenance of each model organism collection. • Discusses the holdings of the collections of model organisms and its relevance to past, current and future scientific research. • Written by the leaders in the field of the management of model organisms.

Scientific Frontiers in Developmental Toxicology and Risk Assessment

Scientific Frontiers in Developmental Toxicology and Risk Assessment PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309070864
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 348

Get Book Here

Book Description
Scientific Frontiers in Developmental Toxicology and Risk Assessment reviews advances made during the last 10-15 years in fields such as developmental biology, molecular biology, and genetics. It describes a novel approach for how these advances might be used in combination with existing methodologies to further the understanding of mechanisms of developmental toxicity, to improve the assessment of chemicals for their ability to cause developmental toxicity, and to improve risk assessment for developmental defects. For example, based on the recent advances, even the smallest, simplest laboratory animals such as the fruit fly, roundworm, and zebrafish might be able to serve as developmental toxicological models for human biological systems. Use of such organisms might allow for rapid and inexpensive testing of large numbers of chemicals for their potential to cause developmental toxicity; presently, there are little or no developmental toxicity data available for the majority of natural and manufactured chemicals in use. This new approach to developmental toxicology and risk assessment will require simultaneous research on several fronts by experts from multiple scientific disciplines, including developmental toxicologists, developmental biologists, geneticists, epidemiologists, and biostatisticians.

Nematodes as Model Organisms

Nematodes as Model Organisms PDF Author: Itamar Glazer
Publisher: Cab International
ISBN: 9781789248814
Category : Biological models
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Nematodes, especially Caenorhabditis elegans have been used as a model for research in molecular biology since the 1960's. This is a much-needed update on research on fundamental processes in areas such as genetics, developmental biology, nutrition, toxicology, ecology, pharmacology and medicine"--

Model Behavior

Model Behavior PDF Author: Nicole C. Nelson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022654611X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 262

Get Book Here

Book Description
Mice are used as model organisms across a wide range of fields in science today—but it is far from obvious how studying a mouse in a maze can help us understand human problems like alcoholism or anxiety. How do scientists convince funders, fellow scientists, the general public, and even themselves that animal experiments are a good way of producing knowledge about the genetics of human behavior? In Model Behavior, Nicole C. Nelson takes us inside an animal behavior genetics laboratory to examine how scientists create and manage the foundational knowledge of their field. Behavior genetics is a particularly challenging field for making a clear-cut case that mouse experiments work, because researchers believe that both the phenomena they are studying and the animal models they are using are complex. These assumptions of complexity change the nature of what laboratory work produces. Whereas historical and ethnographic studies traditionally portray the laboratory as a place where scientists control, simplify, and stabilize nature in the service of producing durable facts, the laboratory that emerges from Nelson’s extensive interviews and fieldwork is a place where stable findings are always just out of reach. The ongoing work of managing precarious experimental systems means that researchers learn as much—if not more—about the impact of the environment on behavior as they do about genetics. Model Behavior offers a compelling portrait of life in a twenty-first-century laboratory, where partial, provisional answers to complex scientific questions are increasingly the norm.

Handbook of Marine Model Organisms in Experimental Biology

Handbook of Marine Model Organisms in Experimental Biology PDF Author: Agnes Boutet
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000464334
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 967

Get Book Here

Book Description
The importance of molecular approaches for comparative biology and the rapid development of new molecular tools is unprecedented. The extraordinary molecular progress belies the need for understanding the development and basic biology of whole organisms. Vigorous international efforts to train the next-generation of experimental biologists must combine both levels – next generation molecular approaches and traditional organismal biology. This book provides cutting-edge chapters regarding the growing list of marine model organisms. Access to and practical advice on these model organisms have become a conditio sine qua non for a modern education of advanced undergraduate students, graduate students and postdocs working on marine model systems. Model organisms are not only tools they are also bridges between fields – from behavior, development and physiology to functional genomics. Key Features Offers deep insights into cutting-edge model system science Provides in-depth overviews of all prominent marine model organisms Illustrates challenging experimental approaches to model system research Serves as a reference book also for next-generation functional genomics applications Fills an urgent need for students Related Titles Jarret, R. L. & K. McCluskey, eds. The Biological Resources of Model Organisms (ISBN 978-1-1382-9461-5) Kim, S.-K. Healthcare Using Marine Organisms (ISBN 978-1-1382-9538-4) Mudher, A. & T. Newman, eds. Drosophila: A Toolbox for the Study of Neurodegenerative Disease (ISBN 978-0-4154-1185-1) Green, S. L. The Laboratory Xenopus sp. (ISBN 978-1-4200-9109-0)

A Guinea Pig's History of Biology

A Guinea Pig's History of Biology PDF Author: Jim Endersby
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674027138
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 544

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved," Darwin famously concluded The Origin of Species, and for confirmation we look to...the guinea pig? How this curious creature and others as humble (and as fast-breeding) have helped unlock the mystery of inheritance is the unlikely story Jim Endersby tells in this book. Biology today promises everything from better foods or cures for common diseases to the alarming prospect of redesigning life itself. Looking at the organisms that have made all this possible gives us a new way of understanding how we got here--and perhaps of thinking about where we're going. Instead of a history of which great scientists had which great ideas, this story of passionflowers and hawkweeds, of zebra fish and viruses, offers a bird's (or rodent's) eye view of the work that makes science possible. Mixing the celebrities of genetics, like the fruit fly, with forgotten players such as the evening primrose, the book follows the unfolding history of biological inheritance from Aristotle's search for the "universal, absolute truth of fishiness" to the apparently absurd speculations of eighteenth-century natural philosophers to the spectacular findings of our day--which may prove to be the absurdities of tomorrow. The result is a quirky, enlightening, and thoroughly engaging perspective on the history of heredity and genetics, tracing the slow, uncertain path--complete with entertaining diversions and dead ends--that led us from the ancient world's understanding of inheritance to modern genetics.

Model Organisms to Study Biological Activities and Toxicity of Nanoparticles

Model Organisms to Study Biological Activities and Toxicity of Nanoparticles PDF Author: Busi Siddhardha
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 9811517029
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 466

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book provides a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art applications of nanotechnology in biology and medicine, as well as model organisms that can help us understand the biological activity and associated toxicity of nanoparticles, and devise strategies to minimize toxicity and enhance therapies. Thanks to their high surface-to-volume ratio, nanoparticles are characterized by excellent biocompatibility and bioavailability, a high therapeutic index, and relatively low toxicity, which has led to their widespread application in the early diagnosis of diseases, comprehensive monitoring of disease progression, and improved therapeutics. The book also explores nanoparticle-based insecticides and their mechanisms of action, and provides a comparative analysis of the various model organisms that are used to understand the biological properties of nanoparticles. Further, it describes various in-vivo models that yield important insights into nanomaterial-mediated toxicity, promoting the optimal utilization of nanoparticles. In closing, the book discusses future perspectives and regulatory issues concerning the use of nanomaterials in translational research.

Dragonflies and Damselflies

Dragonflies and Damselflies PDF Author: Alex Córdoba-Aguilar
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191552232
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Get Book Here

Book Description
Dragonflies and Damselflies documents the latest advances in odonate biology and relates these to a broader ecological and evolutionary research agenda. Despite being one of the smallest insect orders, dragonflies offer a number of advantages for both laboratory and field studies. In fact, they have been crucial to the advancement of our understanding of insect ecology and evolution. This book provides a critical summary of the major advances in these fields. Contributions from many of the leading researchers in dragonfly biology offer new perspectives and paradigms as well as additional, unpublished, data. The editor has carefully assembled a mix of theoretical and applied chapters (including those addressing conservation and monitoring) and achieves a balance of emerging and established research topics, providing suggestions for future study in each case. This accessible text is not about dragonflies per se but an essential source of knowledge that describes how different sets of evolutionary and ecological principles/ideas have been tested on a particular taxon. It will therefore be suitable for graduate students and researchers in entomology, evolutionary biology, population and behavioural ecology, and conservation biology. It will of course be of particular interest and use to those working on insects and an indispensable reference text for odonate biologists.

Bird Brain

Bird Brain PDF Author: Nathan Emery
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400882869
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 195

Get Book Here

Book Description
Why birds are smarter than we think Birds have not been known for their high IQs, which is why a person of questionable intelligence is sometimes called a "birdbrain." Yet in the past two decades, the study of avian intelligence has witnessed dramatic advances. From a time when birds were seen as simple instinct machines responding only to stimuli in their external worlds, we now know that some birds have complex internal worlds as well. This beautifully illustrated book provides an engaging exploration of the avian mind, revealing how science is exploding one of the most widespread myths about our feathered friends—and changing the way we think about intelligence in other animals as well. Bird Brain looks at the structures and functions of the avian brain, and describes the extraordinary behaviors that different types of avian intelligence give rise to. It offers insights into crows, jays, magpies, and other corvids—the “masterminds” of the avian world—as well as parrots and some less-studied species from around the world. This lively and accessible book shows how birds have sophisticated brains with abilities previously thought to be uniquely human, such as mental time travel, self-recognition, empathy, problem solving, imagination, and insight. Written by a leading expert and featuring a foreword by Frans de Waal, renowned for his work on animal intelligence, Bird Brain shines critical new light on the mental lives of birds.