Assays and disease models using transgenic zebrafish

摘要

Model zebrafish transgenic for a disease gene are used in a method of screening for a suppressor that lessens the activity of the disease gene. The disease gene is under the regulatory control of an eye-specific promoter, and its expression in the eye affects vision of the zebrafish. The model zebrafish are then subjected to mutation, and the vision of the mutated zebrafish can be compared to that of any model zebrafish, and a genetic difference between model zebrafish and those mutant zebrafish with altered vision can be used to identify a suppressor gene. In a preferred embodiment the eye-specific promoter is inducible.