Glowing fish illuminates environmental health hazards

from the Independent UK:



Harmful chemicals circulating in the environment may affect more parts of the body than was previously believed, according to a new study.

A team of researchers from the University of Exeter and University College London found that environmental oestrogens may contaminate organs that until now scientists had not considered vulnerable to their deleterious effects.

.....(snip).....

But the UK team engineered a clever solution. The researchers created a transgenic zebrafish, a species routinely used in toxicology as a model for human health. Its transparent skin allows a view into how its organs form in early life. The group developed a highly sensitive fish that when exposed to oestrogens emits a florescent green signal to show which parts of the body are responding. The model provides an unprecedented look at where the chemicals travel in the body, like an anatomical map of harm.

“This is a very exciting development in the international effort to understand the impact of oestrogenic chemicals on the environment and human health,” says Charles Tyler, an environmental biologist at the University of Exeter and one of the study’s lead investigators. “This zebrafish gives us a more comprehensive view than ever before of the potential effects of these hormone-disrupting chemicals on the body. .................... “We found that these chemicals are penetrating more tissue sights than was envisaged previously,” says Dr. Tyler. “They’re not just affecting the reproductive organs, but also brain and skeletal tissue, and eye function.” ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/25/glowing-fish-illuminates-environmental-health-hazards/