Editing Zebrafish (section)

====Transgenesis====
[[Transgene]]sis is a popular approach to study the function of genes in zebrafish. Construction of transgenic zebrafish is rather easy by a method using the ''Tol2'' transposon system. ''Tol2'' element which encodes a gene for a fully functional transposase capable of catalyzing transposition in the zebrafish germ lineage. ''Tol2'' is the only natural DNA transposable element in vertebrates from which an autonomous member has been identified.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Kawakami K, Takeda H, Kawakami N, Kobayashi M, Matsuda N, Mishina M |title=A transposon-mediated gene trap approach identifies developmentally regulated genes in zebrafish |journal=Developmental Cell |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=133–144 |date=July 2004 |pmid=15239961 |doi=10.1016/j.devcel.2004.06.005 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Parinov S, Kondrichin I, Korzh V, Emelyanov A |title=Tol2 transposon-mediated enhancer trap to identify developmentally regulated zebrafish genes in vivo |journal=Developmental Dynamics |volume=231 |issue=2 |pages=449–459 |date=October 2004 |pmid=15366023 |doi=10.1002/dvdy.20157 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Examples include the artificial interaction produced between [[Lymphoid enhancer-binding factor 1|LEF1]] and [[Catenin beta-1]]/β-catenin/''CTNNB1''. Dorsky et al. 2002 investigated the developmental role of [[Wnt signaling pathway|Wnt]] by transgenically expressing a Lef1/β-catenin reporter.<ref name="Barolo-Posakony-2002">{{cite journal |vauthors=Barolo S, Posakony JW |title=Three habits of highly effective signaling pathways: principles of transcriptional control by developmental cell signaling |journal=Genes & Development |volume=16 |issue=10 |pages=1167–1181 |date=May 2002 |pmid=12023297 |doi=10.1101/gad.976502 |publisher=[[Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press]] & [[The Genetics Society]] |s2cid=14376483 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The Tol2 transposon system was used to develop transgenic zebrafish as sensitive biosensors for heavy metal detection. This involved creating a transgenic zebrafish line expressing a fluorescent protein under the control of a heavy metal-responsive promoter, enabling the detection of low concentrations of cadmium (Cd2+) and zinc (Zn2+).<ref name="Herath_et_al_2024">{{cite journal |vauthors=Herath HM etal |title=Innovative transgenic zebrafish biosensor for heavy metal detection |journal=Environmental Pollution |page=125547 |date=2024 |volume=366 |doi=10.1016/j.envpol.2024.125547 |pmid=39694312}}</ref>


There are well-established protocols for editing zebrafish genes using [[CRISPR gene editing|CRISPR-Cas9]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Vejnar |first1=Charles E. |last2=Moreno-Mateos |first2=Miguel A. |last3=Cifuentes |first3=Daniel |last4=Bazzini |first4=Ariel A. |last5=Giraldez |first5=Antonio J. |date=October 2016 |title=Optimized CRISPR–Cas9 System for Genome Editing in Zebrafish |url=http://www.cshprotocols.org/lookup/doi/10.1101/pdb.prot086850 |journal=Cold Spring Harbor Protocols |language=en |volume=2016 |issue=10 |pages=pdb.prot086850 |doi=10.1101/pdb.prot086850 |pmid=27698232 |issn=1940-3402 |access-date=2022-12-05 |archive-date=2024-05-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240519141211/https://cshprotocols.cshlp.org/content/2016/10/pdb.prot086850 |url-status=live}}</ref> and this tool has been used to generate genetically modified models.