Biomedical research is dominated by relatively few nonhuman animals to investigate healthy and disease conditions. Research has overrelied on these models due to their well-described genomes, the capability to control specific genes, and the high rate of reproduction. However, recent advances in large-scale molecular sequencing experiments have revealed, in some cases, the limited similarities in experimental outcomes observed in common rodents (i.e., mice) compared with humans. The value of more varied comparative animal models includes examples such as long-term body weight regulation in seasonally breeding hamsters as a means to help understand the obesity epidemic, vocal learning in songbirds to illuminate language acquisition and maintenance, and reproduction in cichlid fish to discover novel genes conserved in humans. Studying brain genes in prairie voles and cichlids advanced knowledge about social behavior. Taken together, experiments on diverse animal species highlight nontraditional systems for advancing our understanding of human health and well-being.
Keyphrases
- human health
- body weight
- genome wide
- risk assessment
- healthcare
- bioinformatics analysis
- high fat diet induced
- genome wide identification
- type diabetes
- single cell
- insulin resistance
- transcription factor
- genome wide analysis
- weight loss
- mental health
- autism spectrum disorder
- climate change
- white matter
- gene expression
- body mass index
- resting state
- brain injury
- multiple sclerosis
- genetic diversity
- weight gain
- adipose tissue
- subarachnoid hemorrhage
- functional connectivity