Zebrafish are useful in research studies exploring basic biology and human disease mechanisms. They share 70% of their genetic makeup with humans. Their eggs are fertilized externally and their embryos are transparent.  All of this makes Zebrafish a valuable model for studies to understand gene function and many human genetic…

Research with horses is most often part of a One Health initiative where research for both animals and humans advance side by side.  Veterinary studies to improve horse health are often translated to improve human health. Horses get many human-like diseases such as, inflammation of the cellular layer of the…

Fruit flies have helped to develop drugs designed to treat a range of diseases from skin infections and genetic disorders to pneumonia, and meningitis. Some of the recent research with fruit flies has focused on understanding Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, spastic paraplegia, cancer, obesity and insomnia.

Mice are the foundation for numerous advances in medicine, including therapies for cancer, heart disease, hypertension, metabolic and hormonal disorders, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, glaucoma, skin pigmentation diseases, blindness, deafness, neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, birth defects, and psychiatric disorders including anxiety, depression and schizophrenia.

Cats contribute to research in neuroscience, ophthalmology, retrovirus research, inherited diseases, and immunodeficiency diseases. Cats are a valuable model for the study of Alzheimer’s disease because they uniquely replicate various integral parts of the pathology of the disease, in a way that’s similar to humans. Advances in veterinary as well…

Xenopus (African clawed frog) is a model organism building our knowledge of vertebrate embryology and development, basic cell and molecular biology, genomics, neurobiology, toxicology and human disease.  Researchers work with frogs to investigate how internal mechanisms affect embryonic development, how they adapt to environmental stress, and the causes of specific…