PUBLICATION

Zebrafish Embryology and Cartilage Staining Protocols for High School Students

Authors
Emran, F., Brooks, J.M., Zimmerman, S.R., Johnson, S.L., and Lue, R.A.
ID
ZDB-PUB-090422-6
Date
2009
Source
Zebrafish   6(2): 139-143 (Other)
Registered Authors
Emran, Farida, Zimmerman, Steve
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Biology/education*
  • Embryology/methods*
  • Schools
  • Staining and Labeling
  • Students
  • Universities
  • Zebrafish/embryology*
PubMed
19371155 Full text @ Zebrafish
Abstract
The Life Sciences-Howard Hughes Medical Institute Outreach Program at Harvard University supports high school science education by offering an on-campus program for students and their teachers to participate in investigative, hands-on laboratory sessions. The outreach program has recently designed and launched a successful zebrafish embryology protocol that we present here. The main objectives of this protocol are to introduce students to zebrafish as a model research organism and to provide students with direct experience with current techniques used in embryological research. The content of the lab is designed to generate discussions on embryology, genetics, fertilization, natural selection, and animal adaptation. The protocol produces reliable results in a time-efficient manner using a minimum of reagents. The protocol presented here consists of three sections: observations of live zebrafish larvae at different developmental stages, cartilage staining of zebrafish larvae, and a mutant hunt involving identification of two zebrafish mutants (nacre and chokh). Here, we describe the protocol, show the results obtained for each section, and suggest possible alternatives for different lab settings.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping