Description
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is becoming increasingly popular as a laboratory animal for a number of reasons. Zebrafish are vertebrates and they are easy to keep. The females produce large clutches of eggs and the embryos develop very quickly, with major organs in place by 6 days post-fertilisation. Since the embryos develop outside the mother and are transparent, they offer an opportunity to follow the formation of tissues and organs from a very early stage onwards. There are already zebrafish models for a number of human diseases, for example cardiomyopathy, diabetes, muscular dystrophy and Parkinson’s disease.
Infrastructure/methods
Our state-of-the-art facility, which is the largest in Sweden, houses fish in a continuously monitored environment and all staff are qualified animal technicians. We can provide researchers with fish from wildtype lines, as well offering the possibility of bringing in mutant/transgenic fish lines of interest from other laboratories.
The facility has, in collaboration with researchers from the Karolinska Institute, developed protocols for a wide range of techniques, including morpholino injections, whole mount in situ hybridisation, electron microscopy and immunofluorescence assays. Users of the facility have the following equipment at their disposal:
Practical information
The Karolinska Institute Zebrafish Core Facility is open to all researchers wishing to use zebrafish as experimental models. Please contact us for more information.
