The zebrafish, a small freshwater fish, is particularly suitable for genetic studies. Breeding the fish in the laboratory is extremely successful and a female zebrafish can lay hundreds of eggs per week.

The transparency of zebrafish embryos and larvae makes them ideal for functional analysis of disease genes, non-invasive in vivo imaging and therapeutic studies. The research group “Fish Unit” uses zebrafish to identify the function of disease-associated genes and to decipher the molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). The generation of zebrafish disease models by targeted modification of proteins and the introduction of disease-associated mutations is carried out using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing. The Fish Unit is one of the pioneers in the application of this technology in zebrafish (Hruscha et al., Development 2015). The scientific focus of the group is on the in vivo molecular analysis of RNA-binding proteins in the context of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The modern zebrafish animal husbandry and the know-how of the Fish Unit are available as a technology platform for collaborating groups within the DZNE.