A Sketch of the Taiwan Zebrafish Core Facility.
In the past three decades, the number of zebrafish laboratories has significantly increased in Taiwan. The Taiwan Zebrafish Core Facility (TZCF), a government-funded core facility, was launched to serve this growing community. The Core Facility was built on two sites, one located at the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI, called Taiwan Zebrafish Core Facility at NHRI or TZeNH) and the other is located at the Academia Sinica (Taiwan Zebrafish Core Facility at AS a.k.a. TZCAS). The total surface area of the TZCF is about 180 m(2) encompassing 2880 fish tanks. Each site has a separate quarantine room and centralized water recirculating systems, monitoring key water parameters. To prevent diseases, three main strategies have been implemented: (1) imported fish must be quarantined; (2) only bleached embryos are introduced into the main facilities; and (3) working practices were implemented to minimize pathogen transfer between stocks and facilities. Currently, there is no health program in place; however, a fourth measure for the health program, specific regular pathogen tests, is being planned. In March 2015, the TZCF at NHRI has been AAALAC accredited. It is our goal to ensure that we provide "disease-free" fish and embryos to the Taiwanese research community.
1 Institute of Molecular and Genomic Medicine, National Health Research Institutes , Miaoli, Taiwan .
May-Su
MS
You
1 Institute of Molecular and Genomic Medicine, National Health Research Institutes , Miaoli, Taiwan .
Yun-Jin
YJ
Jiang
1 Institute of Molecular and Genomic Medicine, National Health Research Institutes , Miaoli, Taiwan .
Chiou-Hwa
CH
Yuh
1 Institute of Molecular and Genomic Medicine, National Health Research Institutes , Miaoli, Taiwan .
Chien-Ming
CM
Wang
1 Institute of Molecular and Genomic Medicine, National Health Research Institutes , Miaoli, Taiwan .
Chih-Hao
CH
Tang
2 Department of Medical Science, National Tsing Hua University , Hsinchu, Taiwan .
Yung-Jen
YJ
Chuang
3 Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology , Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan .
Bo-Hung
BH
Lin
3 Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology , Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan .
Jen-Leih
JL
Wu
3 Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology , Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan .
Sheng-Ping L
SP
Hwang
D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory; D017756:Aquaculture / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D023421:Models, Animal; D013624:Taiwan; D015027:Zebrafish