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model organism
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organisms used to study biology across species
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Escherichia coli is a gram-negative prokaryotic model organism Drosophila melanogaster, one of the most famous subjects for genetics experiments Saccharomyces cerevisiae, one of the most intensively studied eukaryotic model organisms in molecular and cell biology
A model organism is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Model organisms are widely used to research human disease when human experimentation would be unfeasible or unethical. This strategy is made possible by the common descent of all living organisms, and the conservation of metabolic and developmental pathways and genetic material over the course of evolution.