Zebrafish: A Model for the Study of Human Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

The need of animal models to understand and offer better treatment for human diseases is still indispensable. Zebrafish (Danio rerio), a small tropical freshwater vertebrate, is emerging as a recognized biological model to improve our knowledge of the molecular and cellular mechanisms of different pathological conditions. Research advantages of zebrafish include external fertilization and development, fast and translucent embryogenesis, short generation interval (3 month), and high fecundity with over 200 eggs per female per week. Furthermore, their genome is fully sequenced and easily accessible via the Zebrafish Model Organism Database (ZFIN; https://zfin.org), which provides researchers with a repository of genetic, genomic, and phenotypic data. Although humans and zebrafish may seem evolutionarily removed, more than 80% of genes associated with human diseases have a corresponding orthologue in zebrafish. Interestingly, many endophenotypes associated with human pathologies can be recapitulated in zebrafish. These, together with their inexpensive maintenance and susceptibility to genetic manipulation, make them suitable for large-scale screening procedures. Zebrafish have become an established animal model in which to perform genetic and chemical studies to identify factors influencing disease outcome. Further, their external fertilization and translucent embryos make this vertebrate model especially suitable for the study of gene-by-environment (GxE) interactions involved in different progressing pathologies such as susceptibility to chemical environment and predisposition to cognitive and physical decline.

Here, in this Special Issue of Biomolecules on “zebrafish: A Model for the Study of Human Diseases”, we invite colleagues from different disciplines working with zebrafish to submit reviews and novel research articles that display the versatility of this biological organism to model a huge array of human disorders.

Prof. Dr. Caroline Brennan
Dr. Jose Vicente Torres-Perez
Guest Editors

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