Use of zebrafish models for the analysis of human disease

The zebrafish has emerged as a powerful animal model for human diseases. While it has long informed us about the biology of early development, it has recently come into favor for the investigation of clinically relevant problems. Genes conserved from fish to humans can be rapidly analyzed using the zebrafish embryo in what is essentially a transparent in vivo assay. This unit describes methodologies including genetic screening, targeted knockdowns, ectopic overexpression, and transgenesis.