Indeed, the genetic approach has proven remarkably effective in the dissection of complex biological phenomena, starting with the regulation of the lactose operon in Escherichia coli, the decision between the lysogenic and lytic cycles of the lambda phage and the yeast cell cycle control.
The genetic screens for mutations affecting embryonic development of a fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, carried out by Christiane Niisslein-Volhard, Eric Wieschaus and Edward Lewis, marked the turning point in experimental approaches to embryonic development of more complex organisms.Pattern Formation in Zebrafish What makes an ideal model system to study embryonic development? Among these, transparency of the embryo, ease of husbandry, and the highly prolific nature make the zebrafish a good genetic model system. Yet, at the beginning of the new millennium, most of the mainstream model organisms have one feature in common, they are amenable to genetic analysis.