This is my first line of Zebrafish I named “Absolute.” It will be useful in many areas of research. It is a cross of rose^b140 which lacks guanine and nacre^b692 which lacks melanin.
I just started distributing them to the research community. Someone I sent them to in Japan mentioned their friend was working on a clear goldfish for similar areas of research. The clear goldfish have just been published:
“The clear goldfish have just been in the news papers. The Yomiuri Shimbun
With Christmas around the corner, a see-through goldfish might make a nice Christmas present for the ichthyologist who has everything.
The goldfish, with transparent scales that reveal its organs, was developed by a joint research team of Mie University and Nagoya University.
The fact that it grows to weigh as much as 1 kilogram will make it useful for research into blood constituents and organ behavior. A report announcing the development of the fish was made at the annual meeting of the Molecular Biology Society of Japan in Yokohama on Wednesday.
The research team bred the transparent fish by repeatedly crossing selected pale goldfish over three years.
As goldfish lay several thousand eggs at a time, they will make useful experimental subjects for the observation of blood makeup and the operation of internal organs without scientists having to dissect them.
In research carried out to hitherto, transparent zebrafish, which also lay a large number of eggs, have often been used, but they are ill-suited for research into studying blood and organs as they are small, weighing about 3 grams.
(Dec. 13, 2009).
endothelin receptor b1 (ednrb1; rose)
fewer iridophores and melanophores; Ednrb1 is a G-protein coupled receptor expressed by pigment cells and their precursors (Parichy et al. 2000).
microphthalmia a (mitfa, nacre)
lacks melanophores; Mitfa is a key transcription factor in melanophore specification
