Australian Zebrafish Phenomics Facility [ 2007 - 2012 ]

Research Grant

Researchers: Prof Robert Parton (Principal investigator) ,  A/Pr Ethan Scott ,  A/Pr Joseph Rothnagel ,  A/Pr Michael Lardelli ,  E/Pr Andrew Boyd
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Brief description Globally, zebrafish are making a very significant impact on biomedical research. Zebrafish have a number of attributes that make them ideal models for the study of development and disease, including: - adults are relatively small, so housing is cheap - eggs are transparent, so early developmental processes can be visualized easily - development is rapid - organs are made in 1-7 days - zebrafish are vertebrates and thus have a gene complement very similar to humans - large numbers of eggs are produced each week from a single mother, aiding experimentation - ENU mutagenesis screens have generated thousands of useful mutants, including an increasing number that accurately model human genetic diseases - high-resolution imaging of RNA and protein expression in whole embryos is easy - drugs and chemicals can be easily tested for activities in zebrafish by adding them to the water Becuase of these attributes, zebrafish are becoming the model organism of choice for the study to human development and disease - indeed, the zebrafish field is growing at three times the rate of the mouse field. The international biomedical community has invested very heavily in infrastructure to aid the zebrafish community in realising the potential of this model. In Australia we have very strong basic research teams whom have embraced zebrafish mdoels. However, we lag behind other parts of the world in that, as yet, we have not had much specific funding allocated to animal model infrastructure. This Enabling Grant will build unique infrastructure by bringing together the zebrafish community with two areas in which Australia is very strong - genomics and biodiversity. This will result in a greatly enhanced ability to determine how genes work, and a pipeline for screening Australia's rich source of natural products and chemical libraries for activites against common human diseases such as cancer, dementia, and muscle diseases using zebrafish models.

Funding Amount $AUD 1,584,445.61

Funding Scheme NHMRC Enabling Grants

Notes Enabling Grant