_E. coli_ as a model organism helped researchers better understand how DNA works. Ed Horowitz Photography/The Image Bank via Getty Images Luck likely played a role in its rise in popularity among ...

Nature uses a common framework when building organisms as different as yeast, worms, fruit flies, mice, and humans. This makes it possible for scientists to learn about how our own genes work by ...

A model organism is a species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the organism model will provide insight into the ...