LÉO RAMOSZebrafish are used as animal models in researchLÉO RAMOS
The Butantan Institute in São Paulo officially opened a vivarium with the capacity to raise up to 3,000 adult zebrafish. This species is increasingly used as an animal model in scientific research, primarily in the field of health. The laboratory is housed at the Center for Research on Toxins, Immune-Response and Cell Signaling (CeTICS), one of the Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (RIDC) that FAPESP funds. “Our idea is that CeTICS and various other groups will be able to perform studies at this facility,” says Monica Lopes-Ferreira, coordinator of the zebrafish vivarium. According to CeTICS coordinator Hugo Armelin, the momentum for creating the laboratory sprang up three years ago, while the Center for Applied Toxinology (CAT) was still operating (the project was approved during the initial round of funding for the RIDC program and turned into CeTICS). “The zebrafish has been one of the most explored genetic models in the world for over two decades, yet here in Brazil there are still no laboratories that are performing truly competitive work in this area,” Armelin told Agência FAPESP. The proposal calls for introducing this fish into research environments that currently use mice and rats.
Republish