Rajla Bressan Simonetti, Lis Santos Marques, Danilo Pedro Streit Jr, Eneder Rosana Oberst
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has achieved high popularity as a model organism of favorable characteristics founded on a unique set of properties as high fecundity, small size, rapid development, and rapid generation time. Although the husbandry of this species is poorly developed in contrast to the scientific rigor that is required, this species has great potential as an experimental model, from embryology due to the optical clarity of the embryos and larvae, extracorporeal development of the embryos, the studies of brain disorders by the high similarity of the nervous system between zebrafish and human. In addition, this manuscript discusses new lines of research in various biomedical areas, emphasizing the biological importance for the research of the species.