Fruit flies are "little people with wings" goes the saying in the scientific community, ever since the completion of the Human Genome Project and its revelations about the similarity amongst the genomes of different organisms. It is humbling that most signalling pathways which "define" humans are conserved in Drosophila, the common fruit fly. Feed a fruit fly caffeine and it has trouble falling asleep; feed it antihistamines and it cannot stay awake. A C. elegans worm placed on the antidepressant flouxetine has increased serotonin levels in its tiny brain. Yeast treated with chemotherapeutics stop their cell division. Removal of a single gene from a mouse or zebrafish can cause the animals to develop Alzheimer’s disease or heart disease. These organisms are utilized as surrogates to investigate the function and design of complex human biological systems. Advances in bioinformatics, proteomics, automation technologies and their application to model organism systems now occur on an industrial scale. The integration of model systems into the drug discovery process, the speed of the tools, and the in vivo validation data that these models can provide, will clearly help definition of disease biology and high-quality target validation. Enhanced target selection will lead to the more efficacious and less toxic therapeutic compounds of the future. Leading experts in the field provide detailed accounts of model organism research that have impacted on specific therapeutic areas and they examine state-of-the-art applications of model systems, describing real life applications and their possible impact in the future. This book will be of interest to geneticists, bioinformaticians, pharmacologists, molecular biologists and people working in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly genomics.

Scientific Frontiers in Developmental Toxicology and Risk Assessment reviews advances made during the last 10-15 years in fields such as developmental biology, molecular biology, and genetics. It describes a novel approach for how these advances might be used in combination with existing methodologies to further the understanding of mechanisms of developmental toxicity, to improve the assessment of chemicals for their ability to cause developmental toxicity, and to improve risk assessment for developmental defects. For example, based on the recent advances, even the smallest, simplest laboratory animals such as the fruit fly, roundworm, and zebrafish might be able to serve as developmental toxicological models for human biological systems. Use of such organisms might allow for rapid and inexpensive testing of large numbers of chemicals for their potential to cause developmental toxicity; presently, there are little or no developmental toxicity data available for the majority of natural and manufactured chemicals in use. This new approach to developmental toxicology and risk assessment will require simultaneous research on several fronts by experts from multiple scientific disciplines, including developmental toxicologists, developmental biologists, geneticists, epidemiologists, and biostatisticians.

This book provides essential insights into microbial pathogenesis, host-pathogen interactions, and the anti-microbial drug resistance of various human pathogens on the basis of various model organisms. The initial sections of the book introduce readers to the mechanisms of microbial pathogenesis, host-pathogen interactions, anti-microbial drug resistance, and the dynamics of biofilm formation. Due to the emergence of various microbial resistant strains, it is especially important to understand the prognosis for microbial infections, disease progression profiles, and mechanisms of resistance to antibiotic therapy in order to develop novel therapeutic strategies. In turn, the second part of the book presents a comparative analysis of various animal models to help readers understand microbial pathogenesis, host-pathogen interactions, anti-microbial drug discovery, anti-biofilm therapeutics, and treatment regimes. Given its scope, the book represents a valuable asset for microbiologists, biotechnologists, medical professionals, drug development researchers, and pharmacologists alike.

This one-stop reference is the first to present the complete picture -- covering all relevant organisms, from single cells to mammals, as well as all major disease areas, including neurological disorders, cancer and infectious diseases. Addressing the needs of the pharmaceutical industry, this unique handbook adopts a broad perspective on the use of animals in the early part of the drug development process, including regulatory rules and limitations, as well as numerous examples from real-life drug development projects. After a general introduction to the topic, the expert contributors from research-driven pharmaceutical companies discuss the basic considerations of using animal models, including ethical issues. The main part of the book systematically surveys the most important disease areas for current drug development, from cardiovascular to endocrine disorders, and from infectious to neurological diseases. For each area, the availability of animal models for target validation, hit finding and lead profiling is reviewed, backed by numerous examples of both successes and failures among the use of animal models. The whole is rounded off with a discussion of perspectives and challenges. Key knowledge for drug researchers in industry as well as academia.

The costs associated with a drug's clinical trials are so significant that it has become necessary to validate both its safety and efficacy in animal models prior to the continued study of the drug in humans. Featuring contributions from distinguished researchers in the field of cognitive therapy research, Animal Models of Cognitive Impairmen