Advantages of model organisms

Model organisms are used for many reasons. The following advantages of model organisms apply to different degrees for any model organism.

  • Easy to breed and maintain in a laboratory setup

  • Short generation times

  • Large number of offspring

  • Well studied genome

  • Robust embryos, such as chick embryos that can be manipulated easily

  • Decreased complexity compared to humans

  • Efficient manipulation of genomes

  • Less ethical concerns compared to research on humans

  • Pivotal position in evolutionary tree