• Question: How do zebra fish relate to genetics and cancer research?

    Asked by anon-340864 to Charli, Jonathan on 25 Nov 2022. This question was also asked by anon-343813.
    • Photo: Charli Corcoran

      Charli Corcoran answered on 25 Nov 2022:

      Hi Alice, thanks so much for your question. We use zebrafish in our research for a lot of reasons. Possibly most importantly, it has its full genome sequenced and we know that it is genetically very similar to humans – about 70% similar. More importantly, 84% of the genes that we know to be involved in human disease are conserved in zebrafish, which means that we can study those genes, work out how they are involved in human disease and hopefully development treatments specifically for those diseases.

      Here at the facility I work in, zebrafish are used to study Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. The cells involved in melanoma in humans are called melanocytes, and these are exactly the same cells in zebrafish. By studying these cells and which genes are involved in forming these cells, the researchers can study the disease and know which genes to target for a potential treatment.

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