Zebra fish are a geneticist's dream because practically any genetic defect can be studied.
The fish carry about 85 percent of the genes present in humans. Almost any gene you name, it is there in the fish. Dr. Jagadeeswaran's research team is studying human hemophilia and has developed a mouse model for one type of the blood-clotting disorder. Zebra fish studies are potentially more cost effective, he says. The team is studying regulation of blood clotting by various genes and seeks to understand the pathways of biological processes that result in hemophilia, a disorder affecting about 20,000 people in the United States.