Animals and Plants

Share your research like a scientist would. Research your favourite animal or plant and create a poster to communicate your findings.

Classify!

What makes a bird a bird or a mammal a mammal? Grouping creatures together can show what links different creatures together.

Marvellous Microbes Pack

What are microbes and what do they do? Discover more about the marvellous microbe world and how it has an impact on how we live our lives.

Investigate!

Inbreeding: from champion horses to life-saving mice

What makes us similar and what makes us different? Carry out your own genetic variation investigation using a selection of household items.

What is selective breeding?

Humans have been breeding animals for millenia to bring out desirable characteristics. With the thoroughbred race horse there's lots of money at stake but with research mice it's the possibility of life-saving new treatments.

Selective breeding involves selecting parents that have characteristics of interest in the hope that their offspring inherit those desirable characteristics.

What is a GMO?

Should animals be used in research?

GMOs are organisms that have had their characteristics changed through the modification of their DNA.

Debate

Animals, from the fruit fly to the mouse, are widely used in scientific research. They are crucial for allowing scientists to learn more about human biology and health, and for developing new medicines.

What are model organisms?

Tiny fish, big splash: the story of the zebrafish

A model organism is a species that has been widely studied, usually because it is easy to maintain and breed in a laboratory setting and has particular experimental advantages.

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has become a popular model organism only relatively recently. It is a tropical fish from the minnow family with a genetic structure surprisingly similar to ours.

Of mice and men

The mouse is closely related to humans with a striking similarity to us in terms of anatomy, physiology and genetics. This makes the mouse an extremely useful model organism.

Using yeast in biology

Yeast is one of the simplest eukaryotic organisms but many essential cellular processes are the same in yeast and humans. It is therefore an important organism to study to understand basic molecular processes in humans.

The African clawed frog

Timeline: Organisms that have had their genomes sequenced

While many species of amphibians have been studied by scientists, the one that stands out in genetics is the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis.

Spot the Difference: Zebrafish

To develop techniques for DNA sequencing, scientists began by sequencing the genomes of small, simple organisms. As techniques improved it became possible to sequence the genomes of more complex organisms, such as the human genome. Now, we have a large catalogue of genomes that have been sequenced that we can study and compare.

Why use the mouse in research?

Step into the shoes of a genetic scientist and carry out a phenotype analysis with the model organism, zebrafish.

Humans and mice share many common genetic features and by examining the physiology, anatomy and metabolism of a mouse, scientists can gain a valuable insight into how humans function.

Sequencing the worm

Why use yeast in research?

The 1950s and early 1960s saw a dazzling explosion in molecular biology. The structure of DNA had been uncovered and the mysteries of biology seemed eminently solvable. What would be the next big thing?

Why use the fly in research?

Baker’s yeast, or Saccharomyces cerevisiae as it is also known, is among the best-studied experimental organisms.