Microfluidics expands the zebrafish potentials in pharmaceutically relevant screening.
The objective of this study is to enlarge the impact of microfluidics on the pharmaceutical industry by highlighting the reported scientific work on the synergistic relationship between zebrafish and microfluidics, and furthering that effort to shed light on how microfluidics can facilitate the use of zebrafish as a gene screening tool. Zebrafish is ranked the third most important animal model after rats and mice, according to a National Institutes of Health (NIH) announcement in 2003. It has become a staple for scientists to examine and subsequently begin to unravel the mystery of human diseases, and is increasingly used in toxicological studies for new drug development. The unique characteristics that this tiny fish possesses, including rapid growth rate, prodigious numbers of offspring, and eggs that develop outside the body, make it an invaluable genetic tool. Evidently, these advantages can be broadened with the addition of a properly designed microfluidic circuit. By means of the presented illustrations and demonstrated applications, the goal is to spark interest in the development of more novel microfluidic platform designs that can leverage the attributes of zebrafish and quickly come to commercial fruition.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, 106, Taiwan.
Chia-Yuan
CY
Chen
Chao-Min
CM
Cheng
D000818:Animals; D004345:Drug Industry; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D047108:Embryonic Development; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays; D008280:Magnetics; D044085:Microfluidics; D023421:Models, Animal; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000254:growth & development*
drug development; drug discovery; in vivo screening; microfluidics; zebrafishes