LAB FISH
Zebrafish
Originally, from the South-eastern Himalayan region of Asia they adapt well to aquariums. Comparing to mice they are small, do not need much space, and reproduce fast and in big numbers. A mouse might have a litter of 10 offspring that need three full weeks in the womb to develop.
Such characteristics are unique and unparalleled to all other animal model of human diseases.
SMARTAQUA will benefit from a new Zebrafish lab and gene editing technology to provide fully traceable pedigree lines that can be used by biomedical researchers in Wales.
Killifish
BBC Earth describes them best:
Killifish live fast, die young, have strange sex and even hunt on land
This is all true, but probably sex is the most important feature for research. The mangrove killifish, Kryptolebias marmoratus is hermaphrodite – have both male and female sex organs – other fish can do the same. But the mangrove killifish is the only known vertebrate hermaphrodite that can fertilise itself, producing genetically identical clones.
Developing a unique animal model with desirable biological characteristics has the potential to generate important investment opportunities in Wales among SMEs, as well as from larger pharmaceutical companies.