Zebrafish research by the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, has highlighted the contribution of these fish to finding treatments, for brain cancer.
An article in Euronews described how scientists are studying the brains of zebrafish to provide new insights into cancers such as glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumour with poor survival odds.
The article’s video features researchers who demonstrate their zebrafish experiments and explain why they are needed (pictured).
Among the benefits of using zebrafish are the higher number of stem cells in the adult brains compared to mammals, as well as the transparency of zebrafish embryos to allow cancer cells to be easily tracked.
Laure Bally-Cuif, director of the Developmental Biology and Stem Cell department, said: “In this living animal, we can track cells: how they move; how they divide; how they die – without any invasive procedure.”
Read more about how this species is used in research in our feature.