What do human beings and zebrafish have in common ? Surprisingly, quite a lot ! There is a strong conservation of genetic structure between these two species, which means that studying zebrafish genes could facilitate a better understanding of their human equivalents. Biologists from the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have promoted further understanding in this area, by isolating 15,000 unique genetic markers from the zebrafish, called Expressed Sequenced Tags (ESTs). These provide an important research resource for scientists around the world, as they can be used to identify and discover new genes in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
