Overview

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is the premier non-mammalian vertebrate model organism. This small aquatic fish is being utilized by over a thousand laboratories around the world because of its biological similarity to humans, its advanced molecular genetics, the elucidation of its genome sequence, and the ever-expanding and outstanding new biological tools now available to the zebrafish researcher. The fish is an outstanding system for studying processes difficult or impossible to follow in other animals such as the mechanisms underlying organogenesis. Unlike mice, this model system is readily amenable to forward genetic mutagenesis approaches for the identification of new genes required for these key developmental processes and functions.

Read More