Zebrafish Needed for Research

      I know that some people have a great concern about the model organisms used in research, so I wanted to ease those worries a little. Citizens of this great country, I am reaching to you to educate you about the importance of using the zebra fish as a model organism for beneficial research. I understand that there are some misconceptions about the organisms scientist use for research, but I am writing this to clarify those ideas on behalf of all the scientists.  The model organism I want to look into is the commonly named zebra fish, but more scientifically named Danio rerio.  They live in the shallow water and are known to be one of the most abundant fish species. The zebra fish is specially used for the study of vertebrate development and diseases. In addition, its embryo is transparent making it easy for scientist in the lab to follow it thoroughly in evaluations during its developing stages. 

        The use of zebra fishes as model organisms has increased significantly in the past decade. They are sometimes cloned for certain purposes, but the majority of the time they are just left to breed themselves since they reproduce very rapidly. It has made its way into the study of several areas of cancer research; more specifically in tumors. For more information over this astounding topic, this is the link http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4531851/#Sec6title.  I cannot express enough the importance of using the zebra fish for research in cell biology and biomedical science.  As I mentioned before, this organism is used precisely for the benefits of vertebrates, which is where we humans fall under! Doing research on them is going to greatly give knowledge on the development of the human body and how the diseases affect us within. With such knowledge, scientist will soon be able to come forward with treatments to various diseases. Please join us in the movement to finding cures and understanding the human body beyond one can ever imagine.