Model organism

The concept of model species or model organism refers to biological species used in biomedical research to exemplarily elucidate biological processes, especially at the molecular and cellular levels. It is widely studied, usually since it is easy to maintain and breed in a laboratory setting and has particular experimental advantages. However, generalizations are not always easy.

Typical examples of model species include the bacterium Escherichia coli, the worm Caenorhabditis elegans, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, the frog Xenopus laevis and the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana.