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Researchers use zebrafish
as inexpensive test
subjects
By Barney Haney
Staff
Writer
Scientists at Purdue have developed a way to pass
genetic modifications from zebrafish to the fish's offspring.
"Zebrafish have several characteristics that make
it an excellent experimental organism for genetic research," said Paul
Collodi, an associate professor of animal sciences.
This discovery makes genetic and protein research
less expensive.
Before, the researchers used mice, which didn't
give them near as many embryos to work with. The embryos also had to
be surgically transferred back into the mouse, which is costly in time
and money.
Zebrafish, however, develop large numbers of embryos
outside of the mother.
"The embryos are transparent which allows us to
follow the movement of individual cells easily," said Collodi.
Another advantage of the zebrafish embryos is their
rapid development. "It takes four days from fertilization to hatching,"
said Collodi.
The scientists use these advantages to perform
knockout experiments, which Collodi said are used to study how specific
genes regulate the development of the zebrafish by inserting mutations
into specific sites to mutate specific genes.
Then the scientists conduct a study between the
mutated fish and a non-mutated fish.
Knockout experiments help scientists study protein
functions.
"The experiments provide an in-depth study of heart
development, nervous system development and bone development," said
Collodi.
Collodi's technique was published in the Feb. 27
issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
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