VI
Preface
The organisers and speakers of the workshop
and adding to the information obtained from the study of mRNAs. In
addition, systematic analyses of protein-protein interactions using twohybrid technologies are conducted in the hope of discovering functional interactions. However, in order to draw a more complete picture
than is apparent from such descriptive data, it is desirable to study the
in vivo function of genes and their protein products in a direct fashion.
To this end, genetic studies in model organisms offer a number of
practical advantages, such as short generation times, smaller number of
genes and probably fewer functional redundancies within protein families, smaller genomes, and the possibility to conduct saturation mutagenesis screens. The comparative analyses of genes of higher organisms have uncovered a surprisingly high degree of similarities not only
in the structures, but also the functional contexts of many genes. This
means that the study of nematodes, insects, and zebrafish can provide
information that is of great relevance to the discovery of fundamental
biological mechanisms at work in higher vertebrates and to the elucidation of mammalian gene function, ultimately leading to the understanding of human pathogenesis.
Preface
The organisers and speakers of the workshop
and adding to the information obtained from the study of mRNAs. In
addition, systematic analyses of protein-protein interactions using twohybrid technologies are conducted in the hope of discovering functional interactions. However, in order to draw a more complete picture
than is apparent from such descriptive data, it is desirable to study the
in vivo function of genes and their protein products in a direct fashion.
To this end, genetic studies in model organisms offer a number of
practical advantages, such as short generation times, smaller number of
genes and probably fewer functional redundancies within protein families, smaller genomes, and the possibility to conduct saturation mutagenesis screens. The comparative analyses of genes of higher organisms have uncovered a surprisingly high degree of similarities not only
in the structures, but also the functional contexts of many genes. This
means that the study of nematodes, insects, and zebrafish can provide
information that is of great relevance to the discovery of fundamental
biological mechanisms at work in higher vertebrates and to the elucidation of mammalian gene function, ultimately leading to the understanding of human pathogenesis.