Articles

 

A Small Fish in a Big Question

How does the entire brain transform sensory inputs into actions, and what neural pathways do these impulses travel?  To Read Full Article

 

 

 

How a Zebrafish’s Squiggly Cartilage Transforms into a Strong Spine

In the womb, our strong spines start as nothing more than a rope of rubbery tissue. As our bodies develop, this flexible cord, called the notochord, morphs into a column of bone and cartilage sturdy enough to hold up our heavy upper bodies.  To Read Full Article

 

 

Zebrafish Researchers Discover a Self-Defense Mechanism of the Gut

…cells lining the gut of zebrafish — and probably humans too — have a remarkable defense mechanism when faced with certain kinds of toxins: they hit the eject button.  To Read Full Article

 

Duke Study Uncovers Genetic Elements that Drive Regeneration

If you trace our evolutionary tree way back to its roots — long before the shedding of gills or the development of opposable thumbs… To Read Full Article

 

Fatty Meal Interrupts Gut’s Communication with the Body, But Why?

While using the fish to examine cells that normally tell the brain and the rest of the body what’s going on inside the gut after a meal, a team of Duke researchers discovered that a high-fat meal completely shuts down that communication for a few hours. To Read Full Article

Technicolor Zebrafish Reveal How Skin Heals

Scientists can now watch how hundreds of individual cells work together to maintain and regenerate skin tissue, thanks to a genetically engineered line of technicolor zebrafish. Every cell on the surface of the fish, from the center of the eye to the tip of each scale, is genetically programmed to glow with a slightly different hue. To Read Full Article

 

Cells in Fish’s Spinal Discs Repair Themselves

Duke researchers have discovered a unique repair mechanism in the developing backbone of zebrafish that could give insight into why spinal discs of longer-lived organisms like humans degenerate with age.  To Read Full Article

 

Duke Study Uncovers Foundations of Heart Regeneration

While the human heart can’t heal itself, the zebrafish heart can easily replace cells lost by damage or disease. Now, researchers have discovered properties of a mysterious outer layer of the heart… To Read Full Article

 

Scientist Find Key Protein For Spinal Cord Repair

A freshwater zebrafish costs less than two bucks at the pet store, but it can do something priceless: Its spinal cord can heal completely after being severed, a paralyzing and often fatal injury for humans.  To Read Full Article