Model organisms - a journey from the dawn of biological research to the post-genomic era

The study of models organisms has been the core of biological research for many decades. The amount of information collected from the research conducted on these species in the laboratories across the world is enormous, and the progress made in all fields of biology is highly tributary to them. Historically. the big breakthroughs that represent milestones in biological research go hand in hand with the discovery and development of different model organism species. The aim of this review is to underline the most important contributions brought to science by the 'classical models' and. further, to draw attention to newcomers in the field, that are expected to fill up the gaps and answer the most specific question we face in biology in the post-genomic era.