Iodixanol supplementation provides a simple method for tuning the refractive index of live imaging media, which can greatly improve resolution and penetration depth in live imaging experiments.
The rat is much more than a simple model, and a better appreciation of the natural history of wild rats would increase its value as a research organism.
A better understanding of the natural history of model organisms will increase their value as model systems and also keep them at the forefront of research.
Irreversible differentiation into somatic cells is evolutionarily optimal if changing cell phenotype is costly, a few somatic cells already improve the organism's performance, and the organism is large enough.
In transgenesis assays involving diploid model organisms, two clearly distinguishable transformation markers embedded in interweaved, but incompatible Lox site pairs allow the systematic creation of homozygous transgenic lines and minimize the number of wasted animals.
The turquoise killifish from ephemeral pools in African savannah combines extremely short lifespan with a standard vertebrate body plan – ideal attributes for a laboratory animal.
Crosses of loaches with various genetic and karyptype divergence cause different reproductive outcomes in hybrids, ranging from sexual reproduction to sterility, inviability, and clonality among females.
The great pond snail is a multipurpose model organism and a contemporary choice for addressing a wide range of biological questions, problems and phenomena in the laboratory and the field.
