Latest Zebrafish Stories

(Ivanhoe Newswire) "“ Blue-green algae may be responsible for producing an estrogen-like compound in the environment which could disrupt the normal activity of reproductive hormones and adversely affect fish, plants, and human health. Previously, human activities were thought to be responsible for producing these impacts.Researchers looked into blue-green algae and their effects on zebrafish. They discovered the algae may add a new harmful element into the way they understand and...

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, researchers have found that blue-green algae may be responsible for producing an estrogen-like compound in the environment which could disrupt the normal activity of reproductive hormonesUniversity of Tennessee, Knoxville, researchers have found that blue-green algae may be responsible for producing an estrogen-like compound in the environment which could disrupt the normal activity of reproductive hormones and adversely affect fish, plants and human...

Researchers have identified a cell in zebrafish that can be transplanted from one fish to another to regenerate nephrons, providing the potential to improve kidney functionIt is estimated that up to 10 percent of the U.S. population may have some form of renal disease, with 450,000 patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring hemodialysis. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Pittsburgh have identified a cell in zebrafish...

Breakthrough sheds light on poorly understood region of the brain1. Scientists from the Agency of Science, Technology and Research/Duke-NUS Neuroscience Research Partnership (A*STAR/Duke-NUS NRP), A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, and the National University of Singapore have made a breakthrough concerning how anxiety is regulated in the vertebrate brain. Their work, published in the journal Current Biology, sheds light on how the brain normally shuts off anxiety and also...

The imaging of tumour growth in zebrafish has revealed for the first time how newly formed cancer cells have the capacity to co-opt the immune system into spreading the disease, leading the way for investigations into potential therapies for eliminating early-stage cancer in humans. Using different coloured fluorescent tags, scientists at the University of Bristol labelled immune cells and tumour-forming cells in the translucent zebrafish in order to track their behaviour and interactions by...

By Kitta MacPherson, Princeton UniversityA gene that can cause congenital heart defects has been identified by a team of scientists, including a group from Princeton University. The discovery could lead to new treatments for those affected by the conditions brought on by the birth defect. Princeton researchers focused on identifying and studying the gene in zebrafish embryos, and the team's work expanded to include collaborations with other groups studying the genetics of mice and people....

A tiny, translucent juvenile zebrafish, on the hunt for even littler prey, has offered up a big insight into how a specific circuit of nerve cells functions in the brain. The technique used to illuminate this circuitry, and the fish model itself, provide one of the first insights into the way individual sets of neurons control a specific behavior.The finding, reported in Science, (October 29, 2010), also illuminates the mastery of evolution, in the finely tuned mechanism the research reveals....

Inhibiting certain brain cells sharpens animal's response to small and quick visual stimuliBetween alerting us to danger and allowing us to spot prey, vision keeps many animals, including humans, alive. But exactly how does this important sense work, and why is it easier for us to spot movement of small objects in our field of vision, than to notice other things? The complexity of the neural network that supports vision has long baffled scientists.Now, with a new technology and support from...

Platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) plays role in heart regenerationIn research that one day may lead to the discovery of how to regenerate tissue damaged by heart disease, investigators at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles have identified PDGF as a key factor in the proliferation and transformation of epicardial cells, one type of cell that surrounds heart muscle and contributes to vessels.The study was published online September 21 in advance of the publication of the Proceedings of the...

Malfunction of a protein has been linked to a form of mental retardation that affects up to one out of every 500 males, says Nasser K. Yaghi, a Texas A&M University magna cum laude biology graduate who was selected to participate in a medical research project at Harvard that has been published in the journal Nature. The results of the study suggest that if the condition is detected early in fetal development a treatment could possibly be developed to correct the problem. "X-linked...