‘Model’ or ‘tool’? New definitions for translational research
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Sive_Model or.pdf
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72.48 KB
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Author(s)
Sive, Hazel
Date Issued
March 2011
Journal
Disease Models and Mechanisms
Publisher
Company of Biologists, The
Citation
Sive, H. “‘Model’ or ‘Tool’? New Definitions for Translational Research.” Disease Models & Mechanisms 4.2 (2011): 137–138.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
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.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. School of Science
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.007666
