Silkworm Bombyx mori as a model organism: A review

Bombyx mori Linnaeus, 1758 (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae), a very important economical insect and backbone of the silk industry, is fully reliant on humans for its life cycle. It has short life span, possessing many genes having high degree of homology with human disease-causing genes, low breeding and maintenance cost, has less ethical issues associated with it and has also got its genome fully sequenced. Because of these characteristics, it has been recognized as an alternate invertebrate model organism candidate for use in life science research. It has been successfully used as an alternative invertebrate model organism in a variety of scientific domains, including human disease models, environmental monitoring models, epigenetic models and microbial drug screening and discovery models, since the last decade. This newly emerged model has given promising results so far in its short journey and has a tremendous future prospect of establishing itself as a successful model just like the classical invertebrate models, Drosophila melanogaster Meigen, 1830 (Diptera: Drosophilidae) and Caenorhabditis elegans Maupas, 1900 (Rhabditida: Rhabditidae). The use of the silkworm B. mori as a model organism in areas linked to human health and disease is reviewed here.