Zebrafish embryo

item

Galleries and Reading Room

Library

Shop

Café

<p>False-coloured scanning electron micrograph of a  zebrafish embryo. The zebrafish, Danio rerio, is a  tropical freshwater fish originating from eastern  Asia and is a member of the minnow family. The  zebrafish embryo has gained ground as a disease  model, an assay system for drug screening and is  used in cancer research. Zebrafish have many characterisics which make  them suitable for biomedical rersearch. The embryos  develop quickly, from a single cell in a fertilized egg  to something that resembles a tiny fish in 24 hours. Zebrafish are vertebrates, meaning they are more  closely related to humans than commonly used  invertebrate models such as insects and worms. In  addition, the embryos can be genetically  manipulated and are inexpensive compared to other  vertebrate models.</p>

Zebrafish embryo.

Licence and re-use