Scientists create 'see-through' fish

Scientists have created ghostly transparent fish to make human biology clearer. The feat has been achieved with zebrafish are genetically similar to humans and are already in widespread use as models for human biology and disease.The new see through fish allows scientists to directly view its internal organs, and observe processes like the spread of tumours and blood production after bone-marrow transplant in a living organism, say researchers at Children's Hospital Boston. The fish, described in the journal Cell Stem Cell as created by Dr Richard White, with others in the laboratory of Prof Leonard Zon. He created the transparent fish by mating two existing breeds. Zebrafish have three pigments in their skin-reflective, black, and yellow. Dr White mated a breed that lacks reflective pigment, called "roy orbison", with one that lacks black pigment, called "nacre". The offspring had only yellow pigment in their skin, essentially looking clear. White named the new breed "casper", after the ghost.

His first experiment on the zebrafish examined how a cancer spreads. White created a fluorescent melanoma - skin cancer - tumour in the transparent fish's abdominal cavity.Viewing the fish under a microscope, White saw the cancer cells begin to spread within five days. He even saw individual cells spread, something that has not been observed, so readily and in real-time, in a living organism.The fish may also answer questions about stem cell transplants. While transplants of blood-forming stem cells help cancer patients rebuild healthy blood, some transplants don't "take," for reasons that are unknown. Scientists have lacked a full understanding what steps blood stem cells must take to do their job, says White.The fish's brain, heart, and digestive tract are also visible, allowing researchers to study genetic defects of these organs from early embryonic development through adulthood. White hopes this tool will provide insight into how mutated genes cause diseases ranging from Alzheimer's disease to inflammatory bowel disease.The feat follows the creation of see-through frogs for research where the internal organs and blood vessels can be observed without dissecting the animal, in work by Professor Masayuki Sumida, at Hiroshima University.

New Indian Express, February 10, ൨൦൦൮

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