'Model' or 'tool'? New definitions for translational research

The term 'model' often describes non-human biological systems that are used to obtain a better understanding of human disorders. According to the most stringent definition, an animal 'model' would display exactly the same phenotype as seen in the relevant human disorder; however,...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sive, Hazel (Contributor)
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. School of Science (Contributor), Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research (Contributor)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Company of Biologists, The, 2012-11-15T17:36:21Z.
Subjects:
Online Access:Get fulltext
LEADER 01702 am a22002053u 4500
001 74648
042 |a dc 
100 1 0 |a Sive, Hazel  |e author 
100 1 0 |a Massachusetts Institute of Technology. School of Science  |e contributor 
100 1 0 |a Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research  |e contributor 
100 1 0 |a Sive, Hazel  |e contributor 
245 0 0 |a 'Model' or 'tool'? New definitions for translational research 
260 |b Company of Biologists, The,   |c 2012-11-15T17:36:21Z. 
856 |z Get fulltext  |u http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/74648 
520 |a The term 'model' often describes non-human biological systems that are used to obtain a better understanding of human disorders. According to the most stringent definition, an animal 'model' would display exactly the same phenotype as seen in the relevant human disorder; however, this precise correspondence is often not present. In this Editorial, I propose the alternative, broader term 'tool' to describe a biological system that does not obviously (or precisely) recapitulate a human disorder, but that nonetheless provides useful insight into the etiology or treatment of that disorder. Applying the term 'tool' to biological systems used in disease-related studies will help to identify those systems that can most effectively address mechanisms underlying human disease. Conversely, differentiating 'models' from 'tools' will help to define more clearly the limitations of biological systems used in preclinical analyses. 
520 |a Simons Foundation. Autism Research Initiative 
520 |a Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research 
546 |a en_US 
655 7 |a Article 
773 |t Disease Models and Mechanisms