One of the most interesting puzzles in nature is the transformation of a single cell, the fertilized egg, into a smiling, crying, cuddly baby. Although we have learned much about the process of development, deep mysteries remain. The purpose of today's exercise is to let you investigate for yourself some of the mechanisms of development by making simple observations of zebrafish embryos by testing hypotheses of your own design. What genes do Observe the adult zebrafish in the tank. One reason zebrafish are useful to biologists is that it is relatively easy to make mutations in them.
Biologists use mutants to investigate the function of genes.
For example, albino people lack pigment in their skin. Thus, in these folks, a mutation has disrupted a gene necessary to make skin pigment. So, the normal job of the normal alternative of the albino gene is to make dark skin pigment. Several mutant zebrafish have been brought in. Pick one mutant and compare it to the wild type with respect to at least 3 traits.