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Over the past 15 years, the zebrafish has emerged as an important model system for the study of vertebrate development and disease. This intensive two-week course for advanced graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and independent investigators will focus on the development and genetics of zebrafish with special emphasis on the nervous system. The first week of the course will cover early zebrafish development and genetics, while the second week will focus on nervous system development and function. Mornings and afternoons will be devoted mainly to laboratory exercises and the evenings to lectures and discussion. Limited to 22 students.
Lectures and labs in the first week will introduce students to early development of the zebrafish embryo and to methods for manipulating and studying gene function, including mutant screening, mapping and cloning; transgenesis and antisense approaches; mosaic analysis; and in situ methods for detecting gene expression. In the second week, students will be introduced to the nervous system of zebrafish, its organization and development, and methods for the analysis of nervous system mutants including visualizing single neurons in live embryos, labeling and analyzing axon projections and performing behavioral tests on live animals.
Informal “round table” discussions held periodically during the course include the design and execution of mutant screens, and zebrafish breeding and husbandry.
Each laboratory exercise will be under the supervision of a senior faculty member who will be assisted by one or two junior faculty members. Senior faculty will give research lectures about their work, in addition to leading discussions on topics covered in the course.
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