

Have you noticed how news of discoveries in animal research, whether in genetics, neuroscience or pharmacology, is usually reported from studies in mice, flies, frogs, or fish? These are considered by researchers as some of the “model organisms” or “model systems” for scientific studies. Basically, they choose an organism for their experiments as a standard or reference, or even as a substitute. Now, heated arguments about animal testing or mammalian experiments are well known, but have you ever wondered about model plants used in experiments for botanical research?