The new zebrafish, using a red fluorescent protein from coral, was made to manifest red light from its blood cells but is no different from the regular zebrafish in appearance.(image:Novartis AG)
SEOUL, Aug. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — A domestic research team has succeeded in developing a zebrafish with fluorescent red blood cells, opening up the possibility for treating rare blood vessel diseases. The National Fisheries Research & Development Institute said on August 14 that it has developed a genetically modified zebrafish species after two years of research.
The new zebrafish, using a red fluorescent protein from coral, was made to manifest red light from its blood cells but is no different from the regular zebrafish in appearance. The technology was registered as a patent on August 5 with the patent office.
The reason for the zebrafish is considered one of the best candidates for new drug discovery is that it is a vertebrate just like humans with similar genetic makeups to humans, which makes it ideal for verifying new drug effectiveness. In addition, the fact that it lays 200-300 eggs in each clutch makes it easy to observe the whole process of maturity from the stage of small fry. In particular, zebrafish eggs take only 24 hours to form major organs after fertilization, which shortens the experiment time for researchers.
Ahn Cheol-min, senior manager responsible for the life sciences division at the National Fisheries Research & Development Institute, said, “We expect the new zebrafish genetically modified to have fluorescent red blood cells will have commercial applications such as circulatory disease treatment drugs, as well as for scientific purposes such as the research on hematosis.”
By Sean Chung (schung10@koreabizwire.com)
