Meet the tiny, see-through fish that can regenerate its brain

Move over, Drosophila. Step aside, C. elegans. Scientists are working to establish a new model organism. It’s a tiny species of glassfish called Danionella cerebrum, and its claim to fame is that it's almost completely transparent and can regrow parts of its body, including its brain. Scientists studying the nervous system, regeneration, and more are increasingly interested in this species. 

So what can we learn from this fish? And can it teach us anything about our own brains? Flora dives into this with biologists Deniz Atabay and Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado.

Guests:

Dr. Kutay Deniz Atabay is a postdoc at MIT’s Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He studies neurodevelopment and regeneration.

Dr. Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado is the president and chief scientific officer of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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