title: From bench to patient: model systems in drug discovery.
abstract: Model systems, including laboratory animals, microorganisms, and cell- and tissue-based systems, are central to the discovery and development of new and better drugs for the treatment of human disease. In this issue, Disease Models & Mechanisms launches a Special Collection that illustrates the contribution of model systems to drug discovery and optimisation across multiple disease areas. This collection includes reviews, Editorials, interviews with leading scientists with a foot in both academia and industry, and original research articles reporting new and important insights into disease therapeutics. This Editorial provides a summary of the collection's current contents, highlighting the impact of multiple model systems in moving new discoveries from the laboratory bench to the patients' bedsides.
authors.affiliation: Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA breyer_matthew@lilly.com thomas_look@dfci.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Matthew D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Breyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 01864, USA breyer_matthew@lilly.com thomas_look@dfci.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: A Thomas
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Look
authors.affiliation: Disease Models & Mechanisms, The Company of Biologists, Bidder Building, Station Road, Histon, Cambridgeshire, CB24 9LF, UK.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cifra
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D055808:Drug Discovery; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical; D015027:Zebrafish