Zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) as a Model Organism

Abstract

Zebrafish, a freshwater tropical fish, is a premiere model organism to study vertebrate development. Fast external development and transparency during embryogenesis allow for visual screening at the macroscopical and microscopical level, including visualization of organogenesis. High fecundity and short generation times facilitate genetic analyses. Zebrafish may be a particular powerful model for the study of human disease because many cellular processes are conserved throughout vertebrate evolution, including the corresponding disease genes. Finally, the ability to manipulate gene expression has broad usefulness in the study of modeling human disease, including dementia. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.