There is a wide array of model systems that can be employed to better understand human health and disease.
In general, there is an inverse relationship between their relatedness to humans and their experimental tractability. For example, when using the worm, C. elegans, researchers must first consider if the human gene or residue is conserved in worms and often rely on phenologs to demonstrate functionality. Phenologs are phenotypes that appear very different but arise from genetic disruption of orthologous genes. This is offset by the fact that less related, but more tractable systems, are often more high throughput and less expensive to study.
Human cells and organoids are more closely related to humans than model systems (in some ways), and are in general more experimentally tractable, making them an excellent complement to traditional animal models.
PreMIER Model Systems
