Zebrafish Development and Genetics

Course Description

Over the past 25 years, the zebrafish has emerged as a powerful model system for the study of vertebrate development and disease. This intensive two-week course for advanced graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and independent investigators will focus on the development and genetics of zebrafish. The course will cover time proven as well as novel technologies geared towards their application in zebrafish. Mornings and afternoons will be devoted mainly to laboratory exercises and the evenings to lectures and discussion. Limited to 22 students.

Lectures and labs in the first week will introduce students to early development of the zebrafish and to methods for manipulating and studying gene function, including genetic and small molecule screening, mRNA overexpression, optogenetics, and functional knockdown approaches. In addition, students will gain experience in relevant bioinformatics tools, cell fate mapping, regeneration experiments, and mounting and imaging of antibody and in situ samples for publication ready documentation. In the second week, students will be introduced to imaging of live cells and intracellular signaling events, biophysical manipulations, cell transplantation/chimera analysis, and behavioral testing of live animals. Informal ‘roundtable’ discussions held periodically during the course include topics such as reverse genetics, transgenesis, and zebrafish breeding and husbandry.

Each laboratory exercise will be under the supervision of a senior faculty member who will be assisted by one or two junior faculty members. Senior faculty will give research lectures about their work, in addition to leading discussions on topics covered in the course.