The zebrafish as a novel system for functional genomics and therapeutic development applications

Unconventional antisense technology has entered the mainstream for both therapeutic and functional genomics applications in a variety of biological settings. Further development of this approach has been hampered by the high cost and limited information obtained with standard bioassays and animal models. The embryo of the zebrafish Danio rerio offers both biologists and technologists a new strategy that rapidly garners efficacy, toxicity and specificity data in an in vivo setting. This system has been used to optimize current antisense targeting methods, and it provides an ideal initial assay system for the development of new chemistries or other new gene targeting approaches.