The importance of models of infection in the study of disease resistance

Abstract

Models currently occupy the crucial first step in the research flow for the development of new drugs and vaccines. Some animal models are better at reflecting the host-pathogen interaction in humans than others; this depends on the pathogen and its host specificity. Data gathered from what are often poorly adapted models provide a mosaic of sometimes contradictory information, yet there is little incentive to better delineate the relevance of models or to exploit recent advances to develop improved ones. This review reports on three particularly intractable human pathogens - Mycobacterium, Plasmodium and Schistosoma - and reflects that the extent to which these model systems mimic infection and protection processes in humans might not be sufficiently well defined.