Research News

 

Zebrafish embryos used to reveal how neurons come together to build a spinal cord

November 20 , 2019

Researchers at Janelia Research Campus in Virginia have found that select motor neurons seem to impose their own activity on neighboring motor neurons and interneurons, producing pairs of cells that have the same activity patterns. Thus, the earliest patterns of collective activity are initiated by motor neurons. This finding adds to the emerging picture of motor neurons as a fundamental driver of spinal-cord development... Read more...


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Professor models fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in zebrafish

November 18 , 2019

Zebrafish go through early development over a time period of five days, which is significantly different from the nine-month human developmental period. This short time span allows [Pamela Hunt, College of William and Mary professor] to keep track of the fish's neural development and see how alcohol exposure affects the fish at specific stages of brain growth... [She hopes this research will answer,] “Are there critical periods of time that would help the outcome of the offspring? Could we do something to help the kids overcome the alcohol deficit?”... Read more...


Scientists identify a genetic basis for healthy sleep

November 13 , 2019

Caltech scientists have identified a genetic pathway that is necessary and sufficient for proper sleep in zebrafish and appears to also regulate sleep in humans... Read more...


Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Uncovers a New Frontier in Heart Tissue Regeneration Research

November 13 , 2019

[Zebrafish] are often studied in the field of cardiac repair because they can recover after extensive heart injury… In zebrafish with heart damage, [researchers] made a striking observation – the cardiac lymphatic vessels grew and expanded to cover the wound area. When the investigators blocked this process, the fish were unable to repair their heart damage. “These experiments showed that the lymphatic vessels in the zebrafish heart are doing something critical,” says [researcher] Dr. Harrison... Read more...


Zebrafish used to help find cause of rare genetic brain disease

November 7 , 2019

Researchers at the University of Manchester have helped identify the cause of a rare genetic brain disorder which can cause difficulty in walking, and epilepsy… Using zebrafish models and cell samples from five patients with the disease, the researchers studied the effects of HSP and the underlying genetic cause of the condition... Read more...


Zebrafish study reveals developmental mechanisms of eye movement

November 4 , 2019

An associate professor at Virginia Tech led a multi-university team of investigators in a zebrafish study which revealed that genes linked to autism spectrum disorder and other developmental brain abnormalities may be playing a role in people who cannot control their eye movements... Read more...


Plastic nanoparticles make larval zebrafish hyperactive

October 24 , 2019

Nanoplastics influence the behavior of larval zebrafish, says new research by the Institute of Biology Leiden and the Institute of Environmental Sciences [Netherlands]. The researchers observed that a certain type of nanoparticles leads to stress reactions in the sugar balance, resulting in hyperactivity in the fish larvae... Read more...


Zebrafish discovery throws new light on human hearing disorders

October 23 , 2019

In Wales, Cardiff University researchers performed a study of the genetic make-up of zebrafish [which] has provided brand new insights into the cause of congenital hearing disorders in humans... Read more...


Mending broken zebrafish hearts with neural crest cells

October 22 , 2019

Caltech scientists have discovered that embryonic cells from the hindbrain, called neural crest cells, migrate to the developing heart and form heart muscle in zebrafish and other species. After an adult zebrafish's heart is damaged, these cells participate in heart regeneration by reverting back to an embryonic-like state and proliferating to help repair the injury... Read more...


Startled zebrafish escape using several distinct neuronal circuits

October 15 , 2019

A fast knee-jerk "ballistic" escape response and a more considered "delayed" escape response are mediated by distinct and parallel neuronal pathways in zebrafish, according to a study…[from the] Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development... Read more...


Impacts of low-dose exposure to antibiotics unveiled in zebrafish gut

October 10 , 2019

An antibiotic commonly found at low concentrations in the environment can have major impacts on gut bacteria, report researchers at the University of Oregon... Read more...


Zebrafish study shows that a need to balance guides development of limb-body coordination

October 8 , 2019

The need to feel balanced drives the development of coordination between body and limbs as zebrafish larvae learn to swim, a new study finds…[Lead Investigator from the NYU School of Medicine comments,] "Our hope is that the work in fish guides the future development of therapies for disorders caused by the brain's mishandling of balance cues as it coordinates muscle groups."... Read more...


Blocking Specific Sodium Channel May Offer Way of Treating Dravet, Early Study Suggests

October 1 , 2019

A team of scientists in the Netherlands, Australia and Italy found that selectively blocking NaV1.6 — a sodium channel known to be overactive in some epileptic conditions — may offer a way of treating people with Dravet syndrome, according to work in a zebrafish model... Read more...


Three Human Diseases That Zebrafish Have Helped Treat

September 26 , 2019

Foundation for Biomedical Research released a video: Zebrafish have been a great help in the study of human diseases. Today, we are sharing just three of the diseases for which zebrafish have helped find cures and treatments [heart disease, hearing loss & cancer]... Read more...


Zebrafish Study Shows Brain Activity Intensity Drives the Need for Sleep

September 17 , 2019

The intensity of brain activity during the day […] appears to increase the need for sleep, according to a new UCL [University College London] study in zebrafish…The researchers say […] their findings may help [them] to understand sleep disorders and conditions that impair sleep, such as Alzheimer's disease... Read more...


Zebrafish aid effort to regenerate damaged retinas

September 9 , 2019

The tiny zebrafish may hold the secret to regenerating damaged retinas in humans, Vanderbilt University researchers reported last week in the journal Cell Reports... Read more...


The Incredibly Useful Zebrafish: Their Application in the Science of Sleep

September 6 , 2019

Zebrafish are beautiful little creatures, but they might also be helping us better understand the science of sleep... Read more...


Tumor cells in zebrafish reveal factors that determine metastasis sites

August 22 , 2019

NIH CCR researchers report they have used zebrafish to discover that the particular sites colonized by migrating tumor cells are determined by both the physical architecture of tissue and the cells' molecular compatibility with their microenvironment…With a deeper understanding of the factors that drive the early events in metastasis, it might one day be possible to redirect circulating metastatic tumor cells in patients at the time their primary tumors are treated... Read more...


Zebrafish help divulge why we choose to quit

August 21 , 2019

Understanding the biological mechanisms of “giving up” in fish may teach us about complex human behaviors…How does your brain actually detect failure and make the decision to stop trying something? A research group led by Misha Ahrens at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute discovered the answer in a recent study... [utilizing] screens that allowed them to control what the fish saw... Read more...


Thyroid hormone can alter color vision in zebrafish, potentially in humans

August 6 , 2019

A University of Idaho study found that exposure to thyroid hormone can alter eye function in zebrafish, a result with implications for curing color blindness and retinal degeneration in humans... Read more...


Zebrafish researchers discover a self-defense mechanism of the gut

August 5 , 2019

A team of Duke researchers has discovered that cells lining the gut of zebrafish -- and probably humans too -- have a remarkable defense mechanism when faced with certain kinds of toxins The gut responds with delamination, by means the researchers haven't yet identified... Read more...


Zebrafish genes springing to life post mortem is not a fluke

August 2 , 2019

Scientist Peter Noble and colleagues at the University of Washington… [discovered that after zebrafish died]… around one percent of their genes sprang to life, as though the cells were preparing to build something. The idea that genes would activate after an organism's death was unheard of…

The scientists' findings were met with skepticism, until a group of researchers led by Roderic Guigó at Barcelona's Centre for Genomic Regulation also found post-mortem gene activity, this time in humans…These discoveries could give us a better understanding of how genes work when we're still alive, and they might help improve medical procedures like organ transplants... Read more...


Researchers can Visualize Cholesterol in Zebrafish to help Fight Heart Disease

July 31 , 2019

A newly developed technique that shows artery clogging fat-and-protein complexes in live fish gave investigators from Carnegie, Johns Hopkins University, and the Mayo Clinic a glimpse of how to study heart disease in action... Read more...


Zebrafish make an unexpected decision which may help researchers studying neurological diseases that affect social behavior

July 18 , 2019

When making decisions that are important to the species' survival, zebrafish choose mating over fleeing from a threat. This decision, different compared to that of some other species, appears to be controlled by specific brain regions that respond to pheromone cues. These findings by scientists at Harvard University and Novartis Institutes of BioMedical Research (NIBR) illuminate an aspect of basic biology that will be important as researchers use zebrafish to model neurological diseases that affect social behavior, such as autism and schizophrenia... Read more...


Complex neural patterns discovered in fish sleep, shedding light on origins of slumber

July 12 , 2019

Stanford University scientists discovered clear evidence that when a zebrafish enters a sleep-like state, it doesn't simply transition into a one-dimensional dormant period, but instead moves through a complex series of neural patterns that does resemble the sophistication of sleep in mammals...The researchers suggest there may be practical applications from this study as zebrafish could potentially be used in research as an effective animal model for sleep disturbances... Read more...


Zebrafish helped save life of dying boy

July 1 , 2019

A specialist from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and his colleagues identified the mutation causing [a] boy's [lymphatic] illness, in which lymphatic vessels proliferate out of control and leak fluid into the lungs and other organs; engineered the mutation into zebrafish; waited for the fish to develop a piscine version of the boy's disease; tested multiple drugs on the fish; found one that stopped the vessels' kudzu-like growth; and got permission from federal health officials to try it on their young patient... Read more...


Interactive zebrafish brain

July 1 , 2019

Max Planck neurobiology researchers publish the first interactive nerve cell atlas for the brain of zebrafish. They want to understand how distinct brain areas coordinate their activity to control behavior... Read more...


Zebrafish offers clues to regenerating damaged cardiac tissue

June 25 , 2019

A team of researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, and scientist in Chi's lab at the time of this study, now with Pfizer in Madrid, have pinpointed a signaling pathway in zebrafish heart cells that leads to the regeneration of damaged tissue... Read more...


Caltech researchers find serotonin is necessary for sleep in zebrafish and mouse models

June 24 , 2019

Studies on serotonin and sleep have yielded conflicting results. Some research showed that serotonin promotes sleep, but other work showed that serotonin-producing neurons were most active and releasing the chemical during wakefulness.

In order to settle this debate, [a] Caltech team [of scientists] focused on a region called the raphe nuclei, which has the brain's main population of serotonin-producing (or serotonergic) neurons…

While the studies were in animal models, the raphe region and its production of serotonin are similar in human brains. The research can contribute to explanations of some sleep-related side effects of common antidepressant drugs that increase serotonin levels in the brain... Read more...


Frustrated zebrafish give up thanks to glia

June 20 , 2019

A team at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Virginia wanted to identify the neurons responsible for the decision to quit. The researchers watched the zebrafish's brain activity patterns... But the clearest signal wasn't coming from neurons. The cells that sprang into action just before the zebrafish called it quits were actually glia, long thought to play a supporting role in the brain... Read more...


Sleep Deprivation May Amplify Cognitive and Emotional Issues in Parkinson’s, Study Finds

June 19 , 2019

Not getting enough sleep may cause memory defects and emotional changes in Parkinson's disease due to changes in dopamine metabolism, according to a study of zebrafish... Read more...


Zebrafish may help us understand more about strokes in humans

June 19 , 2019

Scientists from the University of Sheffield, UK, in collaboration with scientists from the U.S. and Germany, have discovered a novel behavior of the blood vessels of the brain in zebrafish that may explain some forms of strokes in humans... Read more...


Tracking Life's First Step: Two Molecules 'Awaken' Brand New Genome

June 19 , 2019

Within hours after fertilization, a unique genome forms from chromosomes contributed by the egg and sperm. However, this new genome is initially inactive and must be "awakened" to begin the transcription of its DNA … Using a combination of microscopy and RNA sequencing analysis, Yale researchers revealed the pattern of transcription within the nucleus of a zebrafish embryo... Read more...


Malaria drug may help those with hereditary hearing loss

June 12 , 2019

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Ohio used a zebrafish model to discover that anti-malarial drug artemisinin could help patients with genetic or hereditary hearing loss... Read more...


Zebrafish capture a 'window' on the cancer process

June 4 , 2019

University of Bristol scientists find cancer-related inflammation impacts significantly on cancer development and progression. New research has observed in zebrafish, for the first time, that inflammatory cells use weak spots or micro-perforations in the extracellular matrix barrier layer to access skin cancer cells... Read more...


Recently discovered cell identity change has possible implications for regenerative medicine

June 4 , 2019

A new study by researchers at the University of Virginia and other institutions has discovered a type of pigment cell in zebrafish that can transform after development into another cell type... Read more...


Bone Marrow Cells Via Lab Dish Instead of Donors? Zebrafish Give UCSD Hope

May 21 , 2019

UC San Diego researchers announced they may have stumbled across a method to develop bone marrow transplant cells in a laboratory dish during a study of blood cell development in zebrafish... Read more...


Thalidomide study suggests cereblon protein is target for abnormal brain development associated with excessive brain size, such as with autism spectrum disorder

May 15 , 2019

Scientists have identified the molecule involved in thalidomide-related dysfunctions associated with in utero brain and organ development… Their results suggest [cereblon] protein as a possible therapeutic target for regulating abnormal brain development... Read more...


Researchers uncover mechanism blocking retina regeneration

May 7 , 2019

A discovery opens the possibility of one day restoring loss of vision by activating the retina's ability to regenerate. Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, the Cardiovascular Research Institute and the Texas Heart Institute reveal in the journal Cell Reports that although the mammalian retina - a layer of specialized nerve cells that mediates vision and is located on the back of the eye - does not spontaneously regenerate, it has a regenerative capacity that is kept dormant by a cellular mechanism called the Hippo pathway. The discovery opens the possibility of activating the retina's ability to restore lost vision by manipulating this pathway... Read more...


Researchers find gene for urethral obstruction

May 2 , 2019

An international team of researchers from Germany, the Netherlands, England, the USA and Poland, led by pediatricians, anatomists and human geneticists from the University Hospital Bonn…discovered the first gene associated with LUTO [lower urinary tract obstruction]… By understanding the genetic causes, the scientists hope to eventually find an approach for a causal therapy for renal dysfunction in LUTO children... Read more...


Zebrafish brain cells could help cure Alzheimer’s disease

April 26 , 2019

Dr. Çaghan Kizil, lead author of the [Turkish] study, [at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Dresden] said that, as far as scientific research has observed, the human brain is not capable of producing new brain cells but human brain cells may be renewable, based on what scientists have observed in the brain of the zebrafish (Danio rerio)... Read more...


Fishing for cures: New zebrafish model identifies drugs that kill pediatric cancer cells

April 25 , 2019

A new animal model developed by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators promises to be less expensive, easier to use and to improve personalized therapies for cancers and potentially other diseases... Read more...


Blood pressure drug shows promise for treating Parkinson's and dementia in animal study

April 18 , 2019

A prescribed drug to treat high blood pressure has shown promise against conditions such as Parkinson's, Huntington 's, and forms of dementia in studies carried out in mice and zebrafish at the University of Cambridge... Read more...


Study reports sensory hair cell regeneration in zebrafish

April 17 , 2019

A scientific study from the Stowers Institute of Medical Research is issued in the Journal Developmental Cell . It focuses on the regeneration of hair cells in fish and reveals an important component of this secret weapon in fish. According to the study, the “support cells” cause the regeneration of the sensory hair cells in fish... Read more...


Are clear fish a clue to understanding Autism?

April 9 , 2019

Researchers at the University of Miami are currently investigating how the SHANK3 gene, which is linked to autism in humans, could be affecting the digestive functions of the fish. Through this, they hope to gain insight into how disruptive genes linked to autism manifest themselves in altered gut functions within forming embryos... Read more...


New technique to spy on cell eating habits could aid cancer diagnosis

April 8 , 2019

Scientists have created new imaging technology to visualize what cells eat, which could aid the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer... Read more...


Future Treatments for Parkinson’s May be Found in Study of Zebrafish

April 5 , 2019

Scientists say that research using zebrafish has revealed how key brain cells that are damaged in people with Parkinson’s disease can be regenerated... Read more...


New approach to repairing damaged peripheral nervous system

April 2 , 2019

A new University of Virginia study proves that a damaged peripheral nervous system is capable of repairing itself - when healthy cells are recruited there from the central nervous system... Read more...


Schizophrenia Genes Prioritized in Zebrafish Mutant Study

March 28 , 2019

A team led by investigators at Harvard University, the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, and the University of Basel has characterized the whole-brain activity, brain structure, and behavioral features found in zebrafish carrying mutations in the orthologs of genes suspected of influencing schizophrenia in humans…The team's analyses pointed to more than 30 genes that appear to be particularly promising candidates for future schizophrenia research... Read more...


High-powered, scientific research microscope for traveling and sharing

March 19 , 2019

A University of Wisconsin-Madison visiting professor is working on a transportable microscope project that will allow scientists to do studies on living organisms without disturbing the specimen, or do studies right in their native environments. It also may help democratize expensive high-end microscopy, bringing it cost-free to campuses and labs where access may be scarce... Read more...


Hong Kong researchers find shortcut to predict drug effectiveness on brain disease

March 18 , 2019

City University of Hong Kong led a study, in collaboration with Harvard, which developed a new platform to enhance the prediction of effectiveness of medicines treating brain diseases... Read more...


Bacteriophages offer promise in treating Cystic Fibrosis patients

March 18 , 2019

A new study shows that bacteriophages, viruses that naturally infect bacteria, can be used to fight Pseudomonas aeruginosa , the most common bacteria found in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients... Read more...


Glow-in-the-dark zebrafish could be the key to finding how cancer spreads

March 16 , 2019

Lymphatic vessels sprout not solely from veins – as current medical knowledge suggests – but in areas distant from veins, something that has "puzzled" scientists... Read more...


How the microbiota controls neutrophil activity

March 7 , 2019

A new tool may allow researchers to see more of the physiological state of living organisms at the cellular level, according to a study by the University of Notre Dame... Read more...


Open-source application creates super-resolution images of cell development in living animals

March 3 , 2019

A new tool may allow researchers to see more of the physiological state of living organisms at the cellular level, according to a study by the University of Notre Dame... Read more...


Parade Gene Controls Pigment Stem Cells in Zebrafish

March 1 , 2019

Scientists at the University of Bath have identified how a mutant gene in fish is involved in controlling stem cells. A new study from the group of Professor Robert Kelsh in the Department of Biology & Biochemistry looks at how a novel group of stem cells are controlled by mutations in a gene called parade... Read more...


How sleep might repair your DNA

March 1 , 2019

A new study on zebrafish found that DNA repair in neurons increases during sleep time whereas sleep deprivation prevents genetic restoration... Read more...


Even Science Thinks Mixing Red Bull and Vodka Turns You Into an Idiot

August 20 , 2018

A new study pretty much confirms what we all suspected about adding energy drinks to our nights out. Researchers from the University of Portsmouth and the Federal University of Santa Maria in Brazil took taurine, a key ingredient in many energy drinks (including Red Bull), mixed it with alcohol, and tested it on some zebrafish... Read more...


Injection of an SV40 transcriptional terminator causes embryonic lethality: a possible zebrafish model for screening nonhomologous end-joining inhibitors

August 19 , 2018

DNA repair by the nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway promotes tumor recurrence after chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Discovery of rapid and high-throughput techniques to screen for an effective NHEJ inhibitor drug is imperative for the suppression of NHEJ during tumor treatment... Read more...


Boffins get fish drunk to prove what any bouncer already knows

August 19 , 2018

Fish boozing in alcohol and taurine more likely to ignore pals and look for a fight... Read more...


Retina Stem Cell Therapy Restores Vision in Animal Models

August 15 , 2018

Mount Sinai researchers have made history with the first recorded restoration of vision in animal models through the activation of retinal stem cells... Read more...


New zebrafish models will accelerate studies of the human skeleton and osteoporosis

August 14 , 2018

Researchers at the Center for Medical Genetics Ghent (CMGG, Ghent Univeristy, www.cmgg.be) and the Ghent University hospital have developed a revolutionary zebrafish model that allows the detailed study of the build-up and breakdown of bone in the body... Read more...


Similarities between the tumours in the fish and humans could potentially provide more personalized cancer treatment

July 9 , 2018

One study being undertaken at Hyderabad's Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology has the potential to significantly change the way cancer treatment is developed... Read more...


Pub Talk Event: Wed, July 11
Zebrafish on the Path to Drive New Treatments for Disorders Such as Autism and Schizophrenia

July 6 , 2018

Phil Washbourne, a professor of biology and member of the Institute of Neuroscience, will provide an overview of his research at 6 p.m., Wednesday, July 11, in a Quack Chats pub talk. The event will be held at the Ax Billy Grill & Sports BarAdmission is free. Food and drinks are available for purchase... Read more...


Study Finds New Brain Pathway for Escaping Predators

July 5 , 2018

How the zebrafish brain perceives and reacts to predators has been determined by researchers at the University of Queensland... Read more...


Shining New Light on the Pineal Gland

July 4 , 2018

Their research on the pineal gland have revealed a genetic connection between left-right asymmetry and day-night cycles.  When zebrafish lack a specific protein, the two hemispheres of the brain develop symmetrically, and the sleep hormone melatonin is not produced. These results were recently published by Freiburg biologists Theresa Schredelseker and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Driever in the journal  Development... Read more...


Researchers find, and possibly fix, toxicity in nanomaterial

July 2 , 2018

While it isn't clear that the new-found toxicity affecting zebrafish poses a threat to human health, the four-member research team said caution is necessary... Read more...


Graphene oxide nanomaterials: Toxicity mechanisms

July 1 , 2018

In a controlled environment, fresh zebrafish embryos were exposed to graphene oxide at 1 or 100 µg/L for up to seven days before the larvae were harvested. The proteins were recovered from 600 larvae of each group, as well as from an unexposed control group, before being digested by filter-aided sample preparation... Read more...


Harvard scientists map how a single cell builds an entire organism

April 28 , 2018

In three studies published on Thursday in the journal Science, Harvard Medical School and Harvard University researchers reported how they systematically profiled every cell in developing zebrafish and western claw-toed frog embryos to establish a roadmap revealing how one cell builds an entire organism... Read more...


Zebrafish May Solve the Riddle of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Israeli Researchers Say

April 27 , 2018

Experiments on the fishes' sleeping patterns help explain why a rise in the baby's temperature because of overdressing or a hot room might lead to 'crib death'... Read more...


Remarkable Video Shows Zebrafish Egg Dividing to Forjm a Ball of Embryo Cells

April 26 , 2018

Work shows how genes control the formation of complex, multicellular organisms from single-celled origins... Read more...


Zebrafish aids researchers in finding cure for gout-related pain

March 28 , 2018

University of Auckland researchers have used highly specialised microscopy to exploit the transparency of tiny zebrafish embryos to show the immune system responding to urate crystals.  It's a first-time development within a whole animal.

Dr Chris Hall, of the university's Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, led the study with colleagues, including Professor Nicola Dalbeth, an academic rheumatologist and recognised expert in gout research... Read more...


Chico State professor researches zebrafish in hopes of creating artificial blood

March 28 , 2018

Chico State Associated Professor David Stachura is working with Chico State undergraduate and graduate students as well as collaborators from Harvard and UC San Diego to make blood using zebrafish... Read more...


P.E.I. native heading to Harvard University to study genetics behind cancer

March 20 , 2018

Justin Pater of Montague is about to embark on a scientific journey to better understand the genetics of cancer as part of his postdoctoral research at Harvard University. Pater, 32, recently accepted a postdoctoral research position at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to study nerve sheath tumours... Read more...


Artificial Organelles Developed That Function in Living Organisms

March 20 , 2018

Artificial organelles in the scavenger cells of a zebrafish made visible by a fluorescent reaction. The fluorescence only occurs when the enclosed peroxidase enzyme is activated and reacts with hydrogen peroxide produced by the scavenger cells. The researchers have thus provided evidence that the artificial organelles function  in vivo... Read more...


Progesterone activation of zebrafish mineralocorticoid receptor may influence growth of some transplanted tumors

March 12 , 2018

Fior et al. ( 1 ,  2 ) provide strong evidence for the benefits of studying the effects of drugs on the growth of human colon cancer explants in zebrafish to identify those drugs that will be effective in treating a specific patient's tumor... Read more...


Zebrafish as a model to investigate the effects of exercise in cancer

March 12 , 2018

The zebrafish has emerged as a new model for cancer due to its high resolution in vivo imaging and capacity for large-scale, unbiased screening approaches. Here, we have developed a set of tools to study the effects of exercise in a zebrafish model of melanoma... Read more...


Extra-ocular muscle regeneration in zebrafish requires late signals from Insulin-like growth factors

February 8 , 2018

in adult zebrafish, extraocular muscles (EOMs)–a subtype of skeletal muscle–can undergo de novo regeneration that is driven by myocyte reprogramming and dedifferentiation [6]. We have further characterized the early steps of EOM reprogramming, revealing important roles for epigenetic alterations, FGF signaling and autophagy in regulating proliferation by reprogrammed myoblasts... Read more...


Accelerated brain aging towards transcriptional inversion in a zebrafish model of familial Alzheimer's disease

February 8 , 2018

Pre-print peer reviewed paper. Access here: Read more...


Zebrafish brain repair following concussion

February 8 , 2018

A simple and inexpensive zebrafish model of concussion, reported in eNeuro, reveals the genetic pathways underlying the animal's remarkable ability to regenerate injured brain tissue. Understanding the mechanisms of regeneration in the zebrafish brain could ultimately help identify new ways to promote recovery from head injury in humans... Read more...


Bio-inspired robotic fish bobs alongside real-life zebrafish

February 8 , 2018

NYU Tandon researchers have published the first experiments of robotic fish that can see and mimic the behaviour of real-life fish, including social cues and fear... Read more...


Scientists reveal the structure of the zebrafish locomotor repertoire

January 12 , 2018

A new study, which will be published on January 22nd 2018 in the journal  Current Biology , a team of neuroscientists from the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, in Lisbon, Portugal, analysed the movements of  zebrafish  larvae with the help of a novel computer program to test whether the second scenario—motor behavior sequences being constructed out of "Lego pieces," as it were—actually accounted for these animals' behaviors... Read more...


Discovery could lead to new therapies for diabetics

January 12 , 2018

New research by MDI Biological Laboratory scientist Sandra Rieger, Ph.D., and her team has demonstrated that an enzyme she had previously identified as playing a role in peripheral neuropathy induced by cancer chemotherapy also plays a role in peripheral neuropathy caused by diabetes... Read more...


Zebrafish brain repair following concussion

January 12 , 2018

A simple and inexpensive zebrafish model of concussion, reported in  eNeuro , reveals the genetic pathways underlying the animal's remarkable ability to regenerate injured brain tissue. Understanding the mechanisms of regeneration in the zebrafish brain could ultimately help identify new ways to promote recovery from head injury in humans... Read more...


Researchers identify new melatonin-based molecular targets that will allow to design new drugs against Parkinson's

January 12 , 2018

A team of scientists led by Darío Acuña-Castroviejo, professor at the University of Granada (UGR), has published the results of a new breakthrough in molecular mechanisms of the anti-Parkinsonian activity of melatonin... Read more...


Study finds flu ravages muscles of zebrafish with muscular dystrophy

January 12 , 2018

After the University of Maine research assistant professor injected the  flu virus  into the bloodstream of  zebrafish  with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), damage to their muscles was greatly exacerbated... Read more...


Zebrafish help find new treatments for Alzheimer's disease

November 29 , 2017

Karen Watanabe-Sailor, associate professor in the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences at Arizona State University's West campus, recently received funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center for a three-year project involving the effects of acetylcholine on zebrafish. This project is rooted in pharmacology and could lead to a new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease... Read more...


The Potential of Zebrafish as a Model Organism for Improving the Translation of Genetic Anticancer Nanomedicines

November 29 , 2017

Peer Review.  This review aims to provide an overview of the recent advances in the development of genetic anticancer nanomedicines, and of the zebrafish models that stand as promising tools to shed light on their mechanisms of action and overall potential in oncology... Read more...


How fish grow a spine

November 24 , 2017

New research on the spinal development of the little skate, a cartilaginous fish (which are more distant relatives of the tetrapods than are the ray-finned fish), has shed some light on the question.Using fluorescent cell tracking, Katharine Criswell and Andrew Gillis of Cambridge University determined that the skate's spine grows from somites alone... Read more...


Conquering Vision Loss Through Regenerative Biology

November 24 , 2017

Zebrafish could hold clues to helping us repair our eyesight. In today's Academic Minute, SUNY Geneseo's Travis Bailey examines how zebrafish repair their eyes and what we can learn to benefit ourselves in the future... Read more...


Toronto Researchers Say Zebrafish May be Key to New Flu Vaccine

November 24 , 2017

Influenza researcher Dr. Warren Lee and Dr. Xiao-Yan Wen, who runs a robotic zebrafish facility at St. Mike's, teamed up to pitch the idea of conducting tests with zebrafish on Angel's Den. It's a spinoff of Dragon's Den on which health care innovators compete to win funding for life-changing projects. The duo won and now has the green light to explore new compounds that could potentially prevent deaths... Read more...


ZEBRAFISH LEAD DALHOUSIE RESEARCHERS TO IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES IN PROSTATE CANCER AND LEUKEMIA

November 22 , 2017

A surprising discovery about prostate cancer, and a hopeful one for childhood leukemia, in studies led by Dr. Graham Dellaire and Dr. Jason Berman at Dalhousie.  Zebrafish have helped Dal researchers, Dr. Jason Berman, Nicole Melong and Dr. Graham Dellaire, shed light on a potentially deadly cardiac side effect of a new drug meant to prolong life in advanced prostate cancer... Read more...


Zebrafish Implanted With a Cancer Patient’s Tumor Could Guide Cancer Treatment

October 17 , 2017

Rita Fior, who is at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Lisbon, and her colleagues reported growing implanted human tumor cells in zebrafish larvae. Each fish became a minuscule model of a patient's cancer - and a testbed for treatments... Read more...


New study from researchers at Duke University: Cholesterol-lowering Drug Might Fight Infectious Disease

September 12 , 2017

A new study from researchers at Duke University may shed light on what makes individuals susceptible to infectious diseases such as typhoid fever, chlamydia, and malaria, and how cholesterol levels may impact susceptibility... Read more...


Zebrafish May Help Scientists Find New Cancer Treatments

August 10 , 2017

Researchers at UT Health San Antonio are working to figure out how to tackle muscle tumors. The cancer targeted in this research is called rhabdomyosarcoma. It’s the most common soft tissue cancer, diagnosed in about 500 American children each year... Read more...


Not Your Basic Bench: Zebrafish Reveal Secrets of the Developing Gut

August 10 , 2017

Duke students are using zebrafish as experimental models to understand how intestines are formed in hopes of finding new ways to combat disease... Read more...


Genetically modifying zebrafish for detection of harmful compounds in drug candidates

August 10 , 2017

Researchers in Singapore have created two modified types of the fish, one that glows when experiencing toxicity, and another that metabolizes drugs in a similar way to humans. Combined, these may help pharmaceutical companies develop less toxic therapeutics... Read more...


High resolution annotation of Zebrafish transcriptome using long-read sequencing

August 10 , 2017

A recent analysis reveals additional novelty and complexity in the zebrafish transcriptome, identifying 2748 high confidence novel transcripts that originated from previously unannotated loci and 1835 high confidence new isoforms in previously annotated genes... Read more...


Study at Duke University Medical Center Reveal Secrets of the Developing Gut in Zebrafish

July 31 , 2017

Daniel Levic of the Bagnat Lab is using zebrafish as experimental models to understand how intestines are formed in hopes of finding new ways to combat disease. He wants to learn how the intestinal lumen forms during early development, and how intestinal epithelial cells take on their physiological functions... Read more...


Lack of Vitamin E may Affect Learning Skills in Babies

July 31 , 2017

The study, conducted on zebrafish by Maret Traber, a Professor at the Oregon State University in the USA, showed that vitamin E-deficient embryos of zebrafish had more deformities and greater incidence of death as well as an altered DNA methylation status through five days after fertilisation — the time it takes for a fertilised egg to become a swimming zebrafish... Read more...


Zebrafish Study Reveals Clues to Healing Spinal Cord Injuries

July 25 , 2017

Researchers have pinpointed key molecules that prompt damaged nerve fibers in the fish to regenerate themselves.  The findings could pave the way for treatments that helps restore vital connections between the brain and muscles of the body that are lost after spinal cord injury... Read more...


Stem Cell Breakthrough Brings Us One Step Closer to Growing Replacement Body Organs

July 19 , 2017

Regeneration body parts might continue to remain in the realm of science fiction. But when it comes to growing replacement organs, we might have better luck. Thanks to zebrafish, researchers from Australia's Monash University have made a discovery that could allow us to grow our own replacement organs. Such would revolutionize the health care industry in a hurry as it would effectively bring to an end the era of waiting desperately in line for a viable organ donor, and thousands of lives would be saved as a result... Read more...


A Zebrafish Can’t Change It’s Stripes

July 19 , 2017

In releasing the genome annotation, the National Center for Biotechnology Information is making it possible for researchers and scientists all over the world to download more genetic information than ever before about the zebrafish. (Genome annotation is the process of finding and designating locations of individual genes and other features of raw DNA sequences or assemblies). A total of 39,989 genes were annotated, including 26,522 that code for proteins... Read more...


TDCPP Exposure Effects the Concentrations of Thyroid Hormones in Zebrafish

July 18 , 2017

Previous studies show that TDCPP may interrupt the thyroid endocrine system, however, the potential mechanisms involved in these processes were largely unknown. In this study, zebrafish embryos/larvae were exposed to TDCPP, until 120 hpf, by which time most of the organs of the larvae have completed development... Read more...


University of Minnesota and Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute Researchers Cryopreserve Zebrafish Embryos

July 18 , 2017

In a recent study, researchers at the University of Minnesota and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) have used new gold nanotechnology and lasers to cryopreserve embryos of zebrafish. This new technology could lead to the repopulation of endangered fish species, support the growth of depleting coral reefs, and heighten our understanding of human disease through fish research models... Read more...


Zebrafish Embryos Survive Deep Freeze and Quick Thaw

July 17 , 2017

In a first, scientists reanimate the fish using embedded gold nanoparticles that heat up cells by absorbing laser light... Read more...


Fish Smell ATP to Find Food

July 17 , 2017

Sensory neurons in the tip of the zebrafish nose respond to molecular signals released from food sources... Read more...


Scientists at Johns Hopkins Take a Closer Look at How Zebrafish Regenerate Eye Tissue

July 17 , 2017

Johns Hopkins researchers report evidence that the natural ability of zebrafish to regenerate retinal tissue in their eyes can be accelerated by controlling the fishes' immune system. The new findings may one day advance efforts to combat degenerative eye disease damage in humans, the scientists say, because evolution likely conserved this mechanism of regenerative potential in other animals... Read more...


Trace Levels of Graphene May Cause Developmental Toxicity

July 13 , 2017

Trace levels of graphene could cause developmental toxicity in environmental organisms, according to a study by researchers at Nankai University in China. Graphene has long been touted as a wonder material, particularly for electronics, but it has been relatively slow to transfer into technology. The researchers exposed zebrafish embryos to graphene oxide (GO) at predicted environmental concentrations of 1-100micrograms per litre, based on results for multi-walled carbon nanotubes... Read more...


A Cool New Way to Freeze and Unfreeze Zebrafish Embryos Using Gold Nanotechnology and Lasers

July 13 , 2017

For more than 20 years, marine biologist Mary Hagedorn, was looking for a way to freeze and defrost the embryos of zebrafish. If the reproductive material could be readily frozen and defrosted, those studies would be easier to conduct and replicate. Fish eggs tend to be too big to freeze or defrost quickly under ordinary circumstances. If the tissues don't freeze properly, ice crystals will form, and they'll pierce and destroy the cells... Read more...


Researchers: Common Coffee Sweetener Could be Ingredient to Help Cure Lyme Disease

July 12 , 2017

With a reported increase in ticks, concern is growing for Lyme and other tick borne diseases, but researchers may be one step closer to a cure.  Dr. Eva Sapi, Chairwomen of the Department of Biology and Environmental Science at the University of New Haven believes the sweetener, Stevia, may be the ingredient for a cure... Read more...


We're Another Step Closer to Growing Replacement Body Organs

July 12 , 2017

Scientists just made a significant step toward the goal of growing replacement human organs by identifying a protein called Meox1, found in stem cells, is central to promoting muscle growth.  Figuring out how to grow our own replacement organs would bring about a health revolution, saving lives of thoughts of people a year who can't have an organ transplant or who die waiting for one... Read more...


New Research on Spinal Cord Repair Mechanism in Fish Can Pave Way for Human Spinal Cord Regeneration

June 29 , 2017

Zebrafish, a model organism already renowned for its regenerative abilities, has show promise in yet another area of the field - spinal regeneration.  Duke researchers discovered that when massive cushioning cells in the zebrafish notochord - a precursor to the spine in vertebrates - are damaged, another type of cell can find and replace the damaged ones... Read more...


Zooming into the Larval Zebrafish Brain

June 29 , 2017

A serial-section electron microscopy data set of larval zebrafish brain - imaged at several scales - provides a resource for structure-function analyses of the animals' neural circuitry... Read more...


Benzopyrene Exposure Genetically Altering Descendent Fish

June 14 , 2017

Zebrafish whose parents and grandparents were exposed to benzopyrene, a chemical associated with air pollution, suffer several physical and behavioral deficits, even though the descendant fish were not themselves exposed... Read more...


Utilizing Zebrafish Visual Behaviors in Drug Screening for Retinal Degeneration

June 2 , 2017

Zebrafish are a popular vertebrate model in drug discovery.  They produce a large number of small and rapidly-developing embryos.  These embryos display rich visual-behaviors that can be used to screen drugs for treating retinal degeneration... Read more...


Researchers Listen to Zebrafish to Understand Human Hearing Loss

May 31 , 2017

Researchers from several institutions have pinpointed hinokitiol - a small molecule found in Japanese cypress tree leaves could lead to treatments for a range of iron disorders including iron-deficiency anemia and iron-overload liver disease... Read more...


Reprimo Tissue-specific Expression Pattern is Conserved between Zebrafish and Humans

May 31 , 2017

According to a new publication in Scientific Reports, the structures supporting the jaws of ancestral fish gave rise to three tiny bones in the mamalian middle ear: the malleus, incus, and the stapes, which trasmit sound vibrations.  If a genetic change causes a jaw malformation in a fish, an equivalent genetic change could trigger hearing defects in mice and human... Read more...


New Molecule Could Help Treat Anemia

May 25 , 2017

Reprimo (RPRM) is a tumor-suppressor gene involved in the regulation of the p53-mediated cell cycle arrest at G2/M.  RPRM has been associated with malignant tumor progression and proposed as a potential bio-marker for early cancer detection... Read more...


Optical Method Links Individual Neurons and Network Activity to Behavior in Zebrafish

May 18 , 2017

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have developed a method that allows them to identify nerve cells involved in a specific motor command.  Understanding the core components of a neural circuit is a key step for deciphering the complex code underlying even elementary brain functions... Read more...


Study: Fishing Induces Gene Expression Changes

May 17 , 2017

Harvesting lab-raised zebrafish based on their size led to differences in the activity of more than 4,000 genes, as well as changes in allele frequencies of those genes, in the fish that remained... Read more...


Researchers Discover New Type of Lymphatic Brain ‘Scavenger’ Cells in Zebrafish

May 2 , 2017

The brain has its own inbuilt processes for mopping up damaging cellular waste – and these processes may provide protection from stroke and dementia.  University of Queensland scientists discovered a new type of lymphatic brain “scavenger” cell by studying tropical freshwater zebrafish – which may share many of the same cell types and organs as humans... Read more...


Chytrid Fungus Causes Chytridiomycosis: Deadly Amphibian Plague Infects Zebrafish

April 25 , 2017

Chytridiomycosis, a well-known infectious disease in amphibians is caused by a deadly chytrid fungus.  It is said to be the main cause for global amphibian mass extinction.  For the first time, the chytrid fungus has been found the cause for infecting and killing species other than amphibians with giving clues on the cause of the disease... Read more...


Researcher from Battleford finds Parkinson’s hope in zebrafish trial

April 24 , 2017

The world is one step closer to a better treatment for Parkinson's disease, thanks to the work of Australian team lead by Battleford native Daniel Hesselson... Read more...


Parkinson's disease replicated in zebrafish leads scientists to uncover life-improving drugs

April 11 , 2017

Scientists have replicated Parkinson's disease in zebrafish - and in doing so found drugs that restored movement in the laboratory animal... Read more...


Yale researchers found microRNA may play a large role in protecting organisms against stress

April 11 , 2017

A new study found that small, noncoding molecules of RNA called microRNA may play a large role in protecting organisms against stress by limiting genetic variability during early development... Read more...


Forum: How could I calculate the heart rate of zebrafish in the video by Image J

April 11 , 2017

Question answered:  How to calculate the heart rate of zebrafish in the video by using the Image J software... Read more...


Finding in zebrafish may contribute to understanding cognitive decline of aging

April 11 , 2017

A population of cells that protect the brain against disease and harmful substances are not immune cells, as had previously been thought, but instead likely arise from the lining of the circulatory system, researchers studying zebrafish have determined... Read more...


Protein Influence on Early Heart Development Could Lead to Better Regenerative Therapies

April 5 , 2017

Stem cell therapies could one day help repair heart tissue in people with cardiovascular disease.  But before doctors feel confident enough to transplant those potent cells into patients, they need to better understand how stem cells work in a developing embryo.  Zebrafish have emerged as a powerful scientific model for studying heart development because they have such strong similarities at the genetic and morphological levels as humans... Read more...


OIST Scientists use Zebrafish Model to Unravel Causes Behind Human LCA

April 5 , 2017

Stem cell therapies could one day help repair heart tissue in people with cardiovascular disease.  But before doctors feel confident enough to transplant those potent cells into patients, they need to better understand how stem cells work in a developing embryo.  Zebrafish have emerged as a powerful scientific model for studying heart development because they have such strong similarities at the genetic and morphological levels as humans... Read more...


CHLA Researcher Awared $1.7M to Study Heart Regeneration

March 6 , 2017

Using zebrafish as a model system to study developmental and regenerative processes of the heart. Ching-Ling (Ellen) Lein's goal is to determine the molecular and cellular mechanisms of myocardial vascularization during heart development.  Zebrafish have become of their natural ability to regenerate, but also because of their transparency which allows researchers to observe the internal processes like blood vessel development... Read more...


Scientists at MDI Biological Laboratory Discover a Tiny Molecule That May Be Able to Heal a Damaged Heart

February 27 , 2017

Dr. Voot P. Yin has been studying heart regeneration in zebrafish for about 10 years.  The zebrafish shares about 70 percent of its genes with humans.  For the past 15 years, much of the heart repair research has focused on developing stem cell treatments.  Dr. Yin decided to take a different approach and look closely at the ability of zebrafish to regenerate tissue, including heart tissue... Read more...


Biologists Control Gut Inflammation by Altering the Abundance of Resident Bacteria

February 16 , 2017

Numerous human diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes and autism spectrum disorders are linked to abnormal gut microbiomes, but an open question is whether these altered microbiomes are drivers of disease. A new study took aim at that question with experiments in zebrafish to dissect whether changes in the abundance of certain gut bacteria can cause intestinal inflammation... Read more...


Zebrafish Discovery Could Hold the Key to Better Understanding Motor Neuron Disease

February 13 , 2017

Researchers from Macquarie University's MQ Health are the first in the world to used a refined UV laser ablation technique to study the cellular behavior of MND in living zebrafish. New findings, published in the Journal of Visualized Experiments on 3 February 2017 aim to better-understand how the disease spreads from neuron to neuron, through the body, in order to ultimately stop the debilitating disease in its tracks... Read more...


New Drug Discovered in Zebrafish Model of Pediatric Epilepsy Shows Promising Results in Clinical Study

February 13 , 2017

A study in the journal Brain describes what could be considered a direct “aquarium-to-bedside” approach, taking a drug discovered in a genetic zebrafish model of epilepsy and testing it, with promising results, in a small number of children with disease. The study was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health... Read more...


Monitoring Post-Mortem Gene Transcription in Mice and Zebrafish

January 26 , 2017

Genes linked to embryonic development, stress, and cancer were among those increasingly transcribed into RNA, researchers at the University of Washington and their colleagues reported. The results suggest that organismal death is an orderly, predictable process, and could help forensic scientists pinpoint time of death, plus help explain why organs from recently deceased donors seem to be more prone to cancer... Read more...


Short Bowel Syndrome Results in Changes to Gene Expression

January 25 , 2017

Investigators at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have mapped the genetic changes resulting from short bowel syndrome (SBS) using a novel zebrafish model and by performing intensive gene sequencing. This approach to determining which genes are markedly over or under expressed in SBS may assist scientists in developing future therapies for children and adults with this condition... Read more...


Researchers Manipulate Gene Expression Using Light, Create Double-Headed Zebrafish

January 24 , 2017

A Hokkaido University researcher has successfully developed a method to accurately manipulate gene expression by light illumination and demonstrated its usability by creating double-headed zebrafish... Read more...


Zebrafish May Hold the Answer to Why Early Life Stress Can Make You Sick When You’re an Adult

January 23 , 2017

A developing fetus is buffered from a lot of things, but if a pregnant woman is chronically stressed, she is probably releasing a lot of stress hormone cortisol into her bloodstream. The extra cortisol may make the fetus more vulnerable to certain diseases as an adult. Dr. Coffman and his team turned to common aquarium fish for answers – the zebrafish... Read more...


Zebrafish Might Hold the Key to Fighting Leukemia

January 5 , 2017

A new research project is using zebrafish to identify genetic and environmental factors that may lead to childhood leukemia... Read more...


Fishing for Answers: New Insights into Childhood Brain Tumor Treatment

December 13 , 2016

The pressing challenge when treating childhood cancers isn't only to help the patients survive.  It's also essential to protect the child's future quality of life.  Tumors created in zebrafish were similar to human tumors at a genetic level.  Now there is links between certain types of fish tumors and specific types of childhood brain tumors... Read more...


Fixing a Broken Heart: Scientists Try to Regenerate Mammal Heart Using Zebrafish

December 1 , 2016

Scientists are currently in pursuit of treatments that could overcome multiple heart diseases including the broken heart disease.  A team of scientists from the Swanson School of Engineering published a report about the possibility of organ regeneration amongst higher forms of mammals... Read more...


Brain Cancer Breakthrough: Microglia Cells, in Zebrafish, Found to Aid Rather than Fight Against Tumor Growth

December 1 , 2016

Scientists in Edinburgh have discovered that immune cells in the brain encourage tumor cell growth.  They recorded video footage of zebrafish that showed specialized cells, microglia, that interact with cells from glioblastoma.  Gliobastoma is the move common type of brain tumor, which is also the hardest to treat... Read more...


Common Probiotics Can Reduce Stress Levels, Lessen Anxiety

November 21 , 2016

Probiotics have become increasingly popular as a way to improve health and well-being.  Now researchers, using a zebrafish model, have found that common probiotics sold in supplements and yogurt can decrease stress-related behaviors and anxiety... Read more...


G Protein-Coupled Estrogen Receptor Regulates Heart Rate in Zebrafish Embryos

November 21 , 2016

Estrogens act by binding to estrogen receptors that play crucial roles in sex differentiation, tumor growth and cardiovascular physiology.  Estrogen receptor is required to maintain normal heart rate in zebrafish embryos... Read more...


Key Protein for Spinal Cord Repair Identified by Scientist at Due Univertisy

November 6 , 2016

Scientists at Duke University in the US found a particular protein important for the process which could generate new leads into tissue repair in humans... Read more...


Zebrafish Embryo 'Selfie' Takes Top Prize in Microscopic Photo Contest

October 20 , 2016

The tiny face of a four-day old zebrafish embryo, scales of a butterfly's wing and magnified coffee crystals -- just some of the miniature worlds revealed by the 2016 finalists in Nikon's annual microscopic images competition... Read more...


Tweaking Immune Response May Help Fight Neurodegeneration: Study

October 19 , 2016

DRESDEN, Germany, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Manipulating immune responses may help patients with Alzheimer's disease recover from neurodegenerative damage, researchers in Germany say... Read more...


In Laboratories Across India, Scientists Take Heart From This Little Fish

October 10 , 2016

CCMB is studying the function of Hox genes that help shape the body’s axis while the embryo is formed... Read more...


Gadsden State C.C. Instructor Lauded by International Association

September 14 , 2016

Congratulations to Dr. Hugh Hammer of Gadsden State Community College. Dr Hammer has received the Outstanding Steward Award from the Zebrafish Husbandry Association, an international nonprofit organization devoted to promoting and developing zebrafish husbandry standards through education, collaboration and publication. Hammer received the award during the World Aquaculture Society conference in Las Vegas. Read more...


ACOA to Zebrafish: Dalhousie University Gets Help in Orphan Disease Research

September 13 , 2016

The federal government has invested $3 million in new biotech startups through a Dalhousie University project aimed at battling rare diseases, in part using tiny fish genetically similar to humans but easier to care for than lab rats. Read more...


What Can Modern Fish and Salamander Genes Tell Us About How our Limbs Evolved?

September 11 , 2016

New research from the University of Chicago suggests that an evolutionary link does exist between fish fins and mammalian hands. In the study, researchers eliminated select Hox genes, which give segments in the body identity, from the genomes of zebrafish and mice. They found that the mutations led to a mouse limb with no fingers, and a zebrafish fin with significantly reduced fin bones. Read more...
See video: https://youtu.be/rFjxJELnN4k


See Video: What Can Modern Fish and Salamander Genes Tell Us About How our Limbs Evolved?

September 11 , 2016

In a video for Science Friday, researchers at the University of California-Irvine illustrate how axolotls can even grow extra limbs, like a third arm. When a wound is grafted with skin from another area of the axolotl's arm with a different positional value, the newly neighboring cells of the wound and graft can “fill in” what would normally lie between them, like an arm... Read more...


Zebrafish A New Weapon in War on Superbugs

September 2 , 2016

Using translucent zebrafish infected with glow-in-the-dark bacterial cells, Monash University scientists have been able to watch the war that breaks out in the body during an infection in real time... Read more...


Magneto Manipulates Bbehavior of Freely Moving Mice and Zebrafish

June 23 , 2016

A modified protein allows researchers to use a magnet to switch on neurons anywhere in the brain in freely moving mice and zebrafish. The tool, described in May in Nature Neuroscience, could shed light on neural circuits underlying autism-like behaviors in animal models of the condition... Read more...


Hundreds of Genes Seen Sparking to Life Two Days after Death

June 21 , 2016

Peter Noble and Alex Pozhitkov at the University of Washington, Seattle, and their colleagues investigated the activity of genes in the organs of mice and zebrafish immediately after death. They did this by measuring the amount of messenger RNA present. An increase in this mRNA – which genes use to tell cells to make products such as proteins – indicates that genes are more active... Read more...


Aggressive Cancer Cells Halted

June 10 , 2016

Zebrafish-human communication shows that cancer cells lacking a signaling protein are less able to develop aggressive metastatic properties. This discovery has been made by Claudia Tulotta. PhD defence 14 June... Read more...


A Good Day for Zebrafish

June 9 , 2016

Why zebrafish represent a miracle for the economics of lab-testing?—?and why rats are overpriced... Read more...


Comparative Epigenomic Profiling of the DNA Methylome in Mouse and Zebrafish Uncovers High Interspecies Divergence

June 9 , 2016

We used comparative methylome analysis of base-resolution DNA methylation profiles from the liver and brain of mouse and zebrafish generated by reduced representation bisulfite sequencing, to identify the conserved and divergent aspects of the methylome in these commonly used vertebrate model organisms... Read more...


Personality Changes Can Affect Body Shape And Movement, Fish Study Reveals

June 5 , 2016

When zebrafish were bred for certain personality traits – such as boldness or shyness – they exhibited changes in “unrelated” traits such as body shape and locomotion. This new research from the North Carolina State University is potentially useful in animal breeding, pest management, as well as studying different human behaviors... Read more...


Zebrafish Lab at St. Michael’s Helps Identify New Genetic Disease and Possible Treatment

May 31 , 2016

The Zebrafish Centre for Advanced Drug Discover at St. Michael's Hospital played a key role in a new study that identified a new genetic disease and helped explain why the brain and the skeleton need a specific sugar to develop properly... Read more...


Fish Courtship Pheromone Uses the Brain's Smell Pathway

May 30 , 2016

Research at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan has revealed that a molecule involved in fish reproduction activates the brain via the nose. The pheromone is released by female zebrafish and sensed by smell receptors in the noses of the males... Read more...


DNA 'Tape Recorder' to Trace Cell History

May 28 , 2016

Researchers have invented a DNA "tape recorder" that can trace the family history of every cell in an organism... Read more...


List Analysis for Human Diseases Modeled by Zebrafish

May 26 , 2016

List Analysis  for  Human Diseases Modeled by Zebrafish 26 May 2016  (148 DO Terms)... Read more...


Zebrafish Germ Cells Cancer Tumors

May 13 , 2016

Germ cell tumors (GCTs) are malignant cancers that arise from embryonic precursors known as Primordial Germ Cells. GCTs occur in neonates, children, adolescents and young adults and can occur in the testis, the ovary or extragonadal sites... Read more...


Stem Cell Researchers Use Zebrafish to Understand the Role of Cartilage in Bone Repair

May 13 , 2016

In a new study published in  Development , USC Stem Cell researchers Sandeep Paul, Simone Schindler and colleagues use the regeneration of the zebrafish jawbone to show that this is not necessarily true... Read more...


In Vivo Physiological Recording From the Lateral Line of Juvenile Zebrafish

May 13 , 2016

Hair cells are sensory receptors responsible for transducing auditory and vestibular information into electrical signals, which are then transmitted with remarkable precision to afferent neurons. The zebrafish lateral line is emerging as an excellent  in vivo  model... Read more...


Watching Apoptosis in 3D

May 9 , 2016

A promising approach for watching cell signaling processes in their physiological context: Scientists visualize apoptosis in live zebrafish using fluorescence lifetime imaging with optical projection tomography to map FRET biosensor activity in space and time... Read more...


Studying Zebrafish May Provide Insight On Rare Genetic Blood Disorders

May 8 , 2016

Comparing the blood systems of humans to that of the zebrafish, researchers found that the small tropical freshwater fish may provide an effective model of study when learning about rare genetic blood disorders. Dr. Terence Flotte, editor-in-chief of the journal where the study was published... Read more...


How Macrophages Repair Brain Bleeding

May 8 , 2016

New research from Southwest University in China has shown how macrophages help with the repair broken blood vessels. Prior to the study, biologists were unsure about how the brain deals with broken blood vessels and how capable the immune system is with dealing with such incidents. Read more...


Zebrafish Help in the Fight Against Cancer

April 5 , 2016

Scientists at the University of Toledo's college of medicine and life sciences, the former Medical College of Ohio, have begun using a zebrafish model as a new way of screening anti-cancer drugs. Read more...


Microcystin-LR Exposure Induces Developmental Neurotoxicity in Zebrafish Embryo

April 5 , 2016

Read more...


Transgenic Zebrafish Forms Technicolour 'Skinbow'

March 22 , 2016

Researchers have created a transgenic zebrafish with skin that fluoresces in thousands of colours — enabling them to track the behaviour of hundreds of individual cells in real time and to see what happens to skin when it is wounded. Read more...


This Tiny Fish Might Unlock the Brain's Mysteries - and It’s Coming to U of T

March 20 , 2016

Thanks to a successful Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) grant, fundamental research into how the zebrafish brain functions will take place at U of T Scarborough. Read more...


Identification of Neuromedin U as a Sleep Regulator

March 7 , 2016

The first large scale screening in zebrafish helped biologists at the California Institute of Technology to identify a gene Neuromedin U (Nmu) which leads to severe insomnia when over activated. Read more...


A Single Cell Shines New Light on How Cancers Develop

March 3 , 2016 , The New York Times

Dr. Leonard Zon of Boston Children’s Hospital, Dr. Charles K. Kaufman, and their colleagues, in a study published Thursday in the journal Science that offers new insight into how cancers may develop. The researchers stumbled on that first cell of a melanoma when they set out to solve a puzzle that has baffled cancer investigator. Read more...


See Video: A Zebrafish Genetic Screen Identifies Nmu as a Sleep Regulator

February 21 , 2016

Chiu et al. perform a genetic screen in zebrafish and identify Nmu as a regulator of sleep/wake behaviors. They show that Nmu overexpression activates brainstem Crh neurons and that Nmu-induced arousal requires Crh signaling, thus identifying a novel vertebrate arousal circuit. Read more...


Zebrafish Embryos Exposed to Atrazine Pass on Health Problems to Their Young

February 19 , 2016

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Atrazine exposure during embryonic development could cause later reproductive problems for female zebrafish, as well as physical deformations in their offspring, according to new research from Purdue University. Read more...


Research at Bar Harbor Lab Could be Used to Reduce Nerve Pain

February 18 , 2016

The Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory has made advances in studies involving zebrafish under a $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Read more...


Estrogens Suppress a Behavioral Phenotype in Zebrafish Mutants of the Autism Risk Gene, CNTNAP2

February 18 , 2016

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of devastating neurodevelopmental syndromes that affect up to 1 in 68 children. Despite advances in the identification of ASD risk genes, the mechanisms underlying ASDs remain unknown. Homozygous loss-of-function mutations in Contactin Associated Protein-like 2(CNTNAP2) are strongly linked to ASDs. Read more...


Check this Video: A new Molecular Alarm Clock in Vertebrates

February 17 , 2016

Dozens of chemical interactions in the vertebrate brain go into maintaining a natural sleep schedule, and scientists have recently found one more player on the field: a neurochemical called neuromedin U, or Nmu. The protein, which was analyzed in zebrafish but is also found in humans, acts to stimulate wakefulness, particularly in the morning. The study appears Feb. 17, 2016 in  Neuron. Read more...


Protein Found Crucial in Vertebrae Formation

February 16 , 2016

In an effort to better understand scoliosis and other vertebrae defects, Yale researchers have examined links between the saw-tooth pattern of a protein and correct spinal formation in zebrafish embryos. Members of the Holley Lab at Yale published their findings in the... Read more...


Sustained Effects of Developmental Exposure to Ethanol on Zebrafish Anxiety-Like Behaviour

February 11 , 2016

In zebrafish developmentally exposed to ambient ethanol, the cortisol response to stress has been shown to be significantly attenuated in larvae, juveniles and 6 month old adults. Read more...


Scientists Watch as Healthy Cells Turn Into Melanoma

February 7 , 2016

Harvard researchers have engineered zebrafish that can be used to visually track melanoma as it begins — from its initiation from neural crest progenitor (NCP)–like cells to full-blown melanoma. The study was published online January 29 in Science. Read more...


Anxiolytic Effects of Fluoxetine and Nicotine Exposure on Exploratory Behavior in Zebrafish

February 7 , 2016

A recent study exposed fish to system water (control), 10 mg/L fluoxetine, or 1 mg/L nicotine for three minutes prior to being subjected to four minutes in an open-field drop test. Video recordings were tracked using ProAnalyst. Fish from both drug treatments reduced swimming speed, increased vertical position, and increased use of the top half of the open field when compared with the control, though fluoxetine had a larger effect on depth related behaviors while nicotine mostly affected swimming speed. a significant sex effect was observed where females swam at a slower and more constant speed than males, however neither drug produced a sex-dependent response.  Read more...


Chemical Used to Replace BPA in Plastic Accelerates Embryonic Development, Disrupts Reproductive System

February 3 , 2016

A recent study shows that making plastic products with BPA alternatives does not necessarily leave them safer, said Nancy Wayne, the study’s senior author, a reproductive endocrinologist and professor of physiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "Our findings are frightening — consider it the aquatic version of the canary in the coal mine."  Read more...


A Cancer's Surprise Origins, Caught in Action

January 29 , 2016

Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital have, for the first time, visualized the origins of cancer from the first affected cell and watched its spread in a live animal.  Read more...


Success of Diabetic Drugs – A Short Review

January 29 , 2016

In August last year, Johns Hopkins scientists reported success using zebrafish embryos to identify potential new diabetes drugs. In the study, more than 500,000 zebrafish embryos were analyzed. Eventually, the researchers identified 24 compounds that effectively increased beta cell number in these animals. Besides identify... Read more...


Estrogens Alleviate Hyperactivity in Zebrafish with Autism Gene

January 29 , 2016

The scientists set out to investigate the function of genes linked to autism and  seizures  in humans by using zebrafish as a model system. They unexpectedly found that estrogens have a selective effect in calming hyperactive  fish during the night which will help scientists to understand the brain pathways affected in ASD. Read more...


Short Telomeres in Key Tissues Initiate Local and Systemic Aging in Zebrafish

January 28 , 2016

Telomeres shorten with each cell division and telomere dysfunction is a recognized hallmark of aging. Tissue proliferation is expected to dictate the rate at which telomeres shorten. We set out to test whether proliferative tissues age faster than non-proliferative due to telomere shortening during zebrafish aging. We performed a prospective study linking telomere length to tissue pathology and disease. Read more...


Modeling GATAD1-Associated Dilated Cardiomyopathy in Adult Zebrafish

January 27 , 2016

Specifically, we studied the zebrafish homologue of  GATAD1 , a recently identified gene for adult-onset autosomal recessive DCM. We showed cardiac expression of  gatad1  transcripts, by whole mount  in situ  hybridization in zebrafish embryos, and demonstrated nuclear and sarcomeric I-band subcellular localization of Gatad1 protein in cardiomyocytes, by injecting a Tol2 plasmid encoding fluorescently-tagged Gatad1. Read more...


A New Anaesthetic Protocol for Adult Zebrafish (Danio rerio): Propofol Combined with Lidocaine

January 25 , 2016

The increasing use of zebrafish model has not been accompanied by the evolution of proper anaesthesia for this species in research. The most used anaesthetic in fishes, MS222, may induce aversion, reduction of heart rate, and consequently high mortality, especially during long exposures. Therefore, we aim to... Read more...


Genome-wide Transcriptional Analysis of Silica Nanoparticles-induced Toxicity in Zebrafish Embryos

January 20 , 2016

Gene ontology analysis showed that SiNPs caused significant changes in gene expression patterns related to many important functions, including response to stimuli, immune response, cellular process, and embryonic development. Read more...


Why Zebrafish Stripes are Horizontal? Animal Patterns Follow a Mathematical Formula

January 19 , 2016

The research is published in the journal Cell Systems. The paper is titled "Orientation of Turing-like Patterns by Morphogen Gradients and Tissue Anisotropies." Read more...


Motor Neurons and Locomotion: Even More Complex Than We Thought

January 17 , 2016

Groundbreaking research published in Nature this week shows that the role of motor neurons in locomotion is far more complicated than neuroscientists previously believed. Read more...


How to Regenerate a Zebrafish Heart

January 14 , 2016

Researchers at the Hubrecht Institute have applied new tools to better understand how the zebrafish heart regenerates after injury. The article is published in Developmental Cell this week. Read more...


Motor Behavior Mediated by Continuously Generated Dopaminergic Neurons in the Zebrafish Hypothalamus Recovers after Cell Ablation

January 7 , 2016

Postembryonic neurogenesis has been observed in several regions of the vertebrate brain, including the dentate gyrus and rostral migratory stream in mammals, and is required for normal behavior. Read more...


Fish May Also Have Emotions And Consciousness: Study

December 10 , 2015

In a study featured in the journal  Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Biological Sciences , scientists from the University of Bristol and University of Stirling in the United Kingdom and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in Spain observed that when zebrafish (Danio rerio) experience stress, the temperature of their body rises by around two to four degrees. Read more...


Cell News - Zebrafish Help Determine Cause of Differences in Severity of Titin Myopathies

December 9 , 2015

Scientists used CRISPR/Cas9 to generate zebrafish with various Titin mutations and were able to identify the precise location that led to varying disease severity, which they could rescue with a protein fragment. Read more...


Personalized medicine studies in zebrafish reveal gene targets for epilepsy

December 5 , 2015

Technological advances ranging from gene editing to next-generation sequencing offer unprecedented access to the human genome and promise to reshape the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. Read more...


Highly sensitive sensors successfully map electrical patterns of embryonic heart

November 9 , 2015

The study could lead to new insight into how heart rhythm abnormalities develop, the researchers say.  The team fine-tuned patented Electric Potential Sensing (EPS) technology, developed at the University, to detect the electrical signals of zebrafish embryos from just three days after fertilization. Read more...


Dr. Henry Krause's Lab Uses Zebrafish to Detect Toxic Drug Effects. See-through fish offer clear advantage to drug researchers

November 9 , 2015

Genetically modified zebra fish whose organs glow fluorescent green will help pharmaceutical researchers test new products, say scientists at the University of Toronto. Read more...


THE PLASTIC USED IN 3D PRINTERS IS TOXIC TO SOME FISH ...AND POSSIBLY TO HUMANS

November 9 , 2015

Toxins from 3D printed plastic discs disrupted the development of zebrafish embryos, according to a study published last week in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters. Read more...


Studies in Zebrafish Larvae Found New Details about How Melatonin Triggers Sleep

October 15 , 2015

Researchers investigated the sleep-related functions of melatonin in zebrafish larvae.  The results strongly suggest there is a direct role for melatonin in both falling asleep and in sleeping for a normal, healthy duration throughout the night. Read more...


Zebrafish Lead to New Breakthrough in the Fight Against Muscular Dystrophy

October 13 , 2015

New research published today in the journal eLife has demonstrated a new method for observing the behaviour of the protein Dystrophin in a living animal cell, in real-time. This breakthrough may provide a key to understanding how to treat the genetic disease, Muscular Dystrophy. Read more...


Check this NHI Videocasting "The Zebrafish Guide to Tuberculosis"

October 9 , 2015

Read more...


A Transparent Fish Shows How Meningitis Moves Through The Body And Attacks The Brain

October 1 , 2015

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center, created a video showing how Cryptococcal  meningitis takes over the brain. Using a transparent fish, the resulting images look like something straight out of a sci-fi movie teaser... Read more...


Zebrafish inspired innovative “protein patch” shows possibility of cell regeneration after heart attack.

September 19 , 2015

An innovative therapeutic strategy, inspired by zebrafish, is a patch made of acellular collagen that simulates fetal epicardial tissue and is embedded with FSTL1. The two substances are absorbed by tissue of a damaged heart and... Read more...


Researchers identify protein that regulates neuron growth

September 19 , 2015

An international team of researchers, led by scientists at the National University of Singapore (NUS), has identified a protein that regulates the growth of neurons by transporting key metabolic enzymes to the tips of neural cells.  The research team looked at the biological roles of BNIP-H in cell lines, primary neuron cultures and zebrafish using molecular genetics, protein biochemistry and high speed imaging... Read more...


Identification of new molecular components of the kidney filtration barrier opens up possibilities to study their role in diseases

September 17 , 2015

Studies in zebrafish larvae indicate that Tmem234 is essential for the organization and functional integrity of the pronephros filtration barrier as knockdown of Tmem234 expression results in foot process effacement and proteinuria. In summary, we have identified... Read more...


Norepinephrine is required to promote wakefulness and for hypocretin-induced arousal in zebrafish

September 17 , 2015

Pharmacological studies in mammals suggest that norepinephrine (NE) plays an important role in promoting arousal. However, the role of endogenous NE is unclear, with contradicting reports concerning the sleep phenotypes of mice lacking NE due to mutation of dopamine ß-hydroxylase (dbh). To investigate NE function in an alternative vertebrate model, we generated dbh mutant zebrafish. Read more...


Lessons from Xenopus, Zebrafish, and Mouse Studies

September 14 , 2015

A complete understanding of the mechanisms underlying nephrogenesis in different model organisms will provide novel insights on the etiology of several human renal diseases. Read more...


Mutant Glowing-Brained Zebrafish Might Help Explain How Our Brains Work

September 11 , 2015

The newest research group at the Nobel prize-wining Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in Norway  plans to use genetically modified zebrafish  to study how brains work when the creatures are just swimming about and living their fishy lives. Read more...


Kansas City Researchers Say Zebrafish May Hold Clue To Reversing Deafness In Humans

September 10 , 2015

The researchers are among a growing body of scientists who propose that, through the study of animal cell growth, they can learn how to activate similar regenerative abilities in humans and possibly reverse hearing loss. Read more...


Zebrafish Research Provides Clues on Autism

September 4 , 2015

Researchers are utilizing animal models to understand how dysfunction of either of two genes associated with ASD,  SYNGAP1  and  SHANK 3,  contributes to risk in ASD. The new findings pinpoint the actual place and time where these genes exert influence in brain development and function. The findings are published in the journal  Human Molecular Genetics. Read more...


Zebrafish Contributes to Findings in the Development of Cataracts

August 28 , 2015

Now in a paper  published online by the journal  Experimental Eye Research , Mchaourab and colleagues including Wenbiao Chen, Ph.D., and Ela Knapik, M.D., have shown that the alpha-A crystallin plays an evolutionarily conserved role between the zebrafish and the rat.  When the researchers disrupted the expression of the alpha crystallin genes, the fish developed cataracts.  Read more...


How Zebrafish rebuild the skeleton of amputated fins

August 24 , 2015

Fish, in contrast to humans, have the fascinating ability to fully regenerate amputated organs. The zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) is a popular ornamental fish. When parts of its tailfin are injured by predators, or are experimentally amputated, the lost tissue is replaced within three weeks. Zebrafish therefore... Read more...


Features of a pathogen that infects fish a could possibly work as a cancer treatment in the future

July 29 , 2015

Though the research is in its early stages, researchers believe they may have found a potential new route for treating cancer — through a pathogen that causes redmouth disease in  Salmonidae  fish, which includes salmon and trout. The researchers, from the University of Freiburg in Germany, published their study in  Nature Communications. Read more...


Salmonid fish toxin could be effective against cancer

July 28 , 2015

A fish toxin could be the basis of a new treatment for cancer, according to a study. This has been found by performing genetic testing on the humble zebrafish. Read more...


Zebrafish Reveal Drugs that May Improve Bone Marrow Transplant

July 28 , 2015

Using la rge-scale zebrafish drug-screening models, Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers at Boston Children's Hospital have identified a potent group of chemicals that helps bone marrow transplants engraft or “take.”

The findings, featured on the cover of the today's issue of  Nature , could lead to human trials in patients with cancer and blood disorders within a year or two, says senior investigator  Leonard Zon , a member of the HSCI executive committee and a professor in Harvard's Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. Read more...


Flexible and waterproof micro-sensors to uncover zebrafish circadian rhythms: The next generation of cardiac monitoring for drug screening

July 28 , 2015

Flexible electronics are the next generation of sensors for mobile health and implantation. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is an emergent strategy for pre-clinical drug development and toxicity testing. To address the confounding effects from sedation of fish and removal from the aquatic habitat for micro-electrocardiogram (µECG) measurements, we developed waterproof and wearable sensors to uncover the circadian variation in heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) ( Massin et al., 2000). The parylene-C based ECG sensor consisted of an ultra-soft silicone integrated jacket designed to wrap around the fish during swimming. Read more...


Clarkson biology professor Cintia Hongay awarded $350,000 for research project

July 26 , 2015

POTSDAM -- A Clarkson biology professor was awarded nearly $350,000 by the National Institute . Read more...


Does a fish hold the key to generating the heart after a heart attack?

July 8 , 2015

New program at USC labs  aims to stimulate new interdisciplinary stem cell research projects initiated and proposed by students and postdocs. Read more...


Zebrafish on the path to fight cancer and other diseases

July 2 , 2015

A relatively new method of targeting specific DNA sequences in zebrafish could dramatically accelerate the discovery of gene function and the identification of disease genes in humans, according to scientists at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Read more...


Zebrafish provide a novel model to study short bowel syndrome

July 2 , 2015

Investigators at Children's Hospital Los Angeles are providing new hope for babies with short bowel syndrome (SBS) by developing a novel model of SBS in zebrafish, described in a paper published online on June 18 by the  American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology. Read more...


Live imaging reveals how wound healing influences cancer

July 2 , 2015

Researchers in the United Kingdom and Denmark have studied the "see-through" larvae of zebrafish to reveal how wound healing leads to skin cancer. Live imaging shows neutrophils, the protective inflammatory cells of the body's immune system . Read more...


Zebrafish provide a novel model to study short bowel syndrome

June 24 , 2015

The findings show that disrupting the expression or “knocking down” either SYNGAP1 or SHANK 3 genes affects early brain development in the mid and hindbrain regions and results in hyper-excitable behaviors. Read more...


A New method could dramatically accelerate the discovery of gene functions and the identification of disease genes in humans.

June 8 , 2015

In a recent study, researchers reported that the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR/Cas9 is six times more effective than other techniques at homing in on target genes and inserting or deleting specific sequences. Read more...


How the upgraded zebrafish facility at Boston Children's will boost drug research

May 27 , 2015

The hospital showcased a $4 million upgrade to the hospital's zebrafish facility, thanks to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, which will ensure the region stays at the forefront of such research for years to come. Read more...


New zebrafish model should speed research on parasite that causes toxoplasmosis

May 27 , 2015

Researchers at Oregon State University have found a method to speed the search for new therapies to treat toxoplasmosis – by successfully infecting zebrafish with Toxoplasma gondii. Read more...


Study Uncovers Foundations of Heart Regeneration

May 5 , 2015

A study appearing May 4 in the journal  Nature  found that when this critical layer of the  heart  is damaged, the whole repair process is delayed as the epicardium undergoes a round of self-healing before tending to the rest of the heart. Read more...


Time-Lapse Video of Zebrafish "Inner Ear" Development Wins 1st Place in Nikon Small World in Motion Competition

April 30, 2015

Dr. Mariana Muzzopappa (of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine Barcelona) and Jim Swoger (of the Center for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona) won the Fourth Annual Nikon Small World in Motion Photomicrography Competition, for their stunning capture of the development of a zebrafish lateral line - a process that could provide insight into curing deafness in humans. See videos. Read more...


How tiny fish help unlock the secrets of cancer

April 27, 2015

Read more...


Zebrafish accelerate research against pancreatic cancer

April 7, 2015

Today, scientists at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) are using  zebrafish  to accelerate investigations of  pancreatic cancer , the nation's fourth-leading cause of cancer-related death. Read more...


Evolutionary Novelties in Vision

April 1 , 2015

David Lagman and co-workers from SciLife Uppsala University, describe evolutionary changes in the first relay step in the vision cascade, mediated by a family of G-proteins called transducins. These trigger the cellular response by activating a critical enzyme. Read more...


Self-repairing hearts studied

March 27, 2015

Research teams in the US and in Europe this week publish separate studies suggesting it may be possible to stimulate human hearts to repair themselves after a heart attack. Read more...


Zebrafish helps investigate about eye disease which causes severe vision loss and blindness in infants

March 23, 2015

Researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) are  working to investigate Leber's Congenital Amaurosis (LCA).
LCA is a rare degenerative genetic condition affecting the retina, which can cause severe vision loss and blindness in young children.. Read more...


Zebrafish May Be Key to Beating Osteoporosis

March 10, 2015

The ability of the fish to rebuild itself is partly why scientists at the National University of Singapore (NUS) are studying it. They want to find out how to beat osteoporosis, a disease that causes bones to waste away faster than usual and become prone to fracture.. Read more...


Scientists find link between flame retardants and obesity

March 4, 2015

Scientists at UH's Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling (CNRCS) have been researching the issue using zebrafish. The researchers set out to screen for compounds that lead to obesity, called obesogens... Read more...


Epigenome orchestrates embryonic development

February 23, 2015

Studying zebrafish embryos, researchers at  Washington University School of Medicine  in St. Louis have shown that the epigenome plays a significant part in guiding development in the first 24 hours after fertilization. 

The research, which appears Feb. 20 in the journal Nature Communications, may deepen understanding of congenital defects and miscarriage... Read more...


Howard Hughes Medical Institute Develops New Tool to Track Brain Activity in Fish

February 14, 2015

New Fluorescent Protein A new tool developed at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus lets scientists shine a light on an animal's brain to permanently mark neurons that are active at a particular time. The tool -- a fluorescent protein called CaMPARI -- converts from green to red when calcium floods a nerve cell after the cell fires... Read more...


Zebrafish in Orbit!

February 9, 2015

A trip of zebrafish aboard NASA’s International Space Station could lead to the discovery of new drugs or treatments for patients on extended bed rest or with limited mobility... Read more...


BPA and BPS can cause Hyperactivity among Zebrafish

January 14, 2015

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) , researchers in Deborah Kurrasch's lab at the University of Calgary have provided evidence that BPA and BPS cause alterations in brain development leading to hyperactivity in zebrafish... Read more...


Research group identifies GLUT2 protein's role in zebrafish brain development

January 14, 2015

Researchers from the University of Barcelona (UB) have described the key role that GLUT2 protein plays in embryonic brain development in zebrafish. A new article —highlighted on the cover of the January issue of the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism — proves that this molecule... Read more...


 
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