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Move over, Drosophila. Step aside, C. elegans. Scientists are working to establish a new model organism. It’s a tiny species of glassfish called Danionella cerebrum, and its claim to fame is that it’s almost completely transparent and can regrow parts of its body, including its brain. Scientists studying the nervous system, regeneration, and more are increasingly interested in this species.
So what can we learn from this fish? And can it teach us anything about our own brains? Flora dives into this with biologists Deniz Atabaym and Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado.
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Segment Guests
Kutay Deniz Atabay
Dr. Kutay Deniz Atabay is a postdoc at MIT’s Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He studies neurodevelopment and regeneration.
Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado
Dr. Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado is a biologist and president and chief scientific officer of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, Missouri.
Segment Transcript
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About Flora Lichtman
Flora Lichtman is a host of Science Friday. In a previous life, she lived on a research ship where apertivi were served on the top deck, hoisted there via pulley by the ship’s chef.
About Rasha Aridi
Rasha Aridi is a producer for Science Friday and the inaugural Outrider/Burroughs Wellcome Fund Fellow. She loves stories about weird critters, science adventures, and the intersection of science and history.