Zebra fish research facility opens at Monash

Monash University has established the largest zebra fish research facility in the Southern Hemisphere.

The $5.4 million dollar aquarium is located within Monash University's Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) at the university's Clayton campus. It houses thousands of the 6 cm long tropical zebra fish in 6500 tanks and could help researchers find better treatments for diseases such as muscular dystrophy and heart disease.

Zebra fish have become one of the key research models for scientists because of the species' distant genetic connection to humans and their ability to regenerate muscles and other organs. They are native to parts of India and commonly found in home aquariums across Australia, Japan and the United States.

ARMI deputy director Professor Peter Currie said the new facility would place Monash at the forefront of regenerative medicine research in Australia and across the world.

Professor Currie said one of the key areas of research was in determining how muscles grow and develop. Zebra fish have a very similar muscle development program to humans — yet they are better at repairing damaged muscle tissue.

"Zebra fish can not only repair damaged tissue like humans, but they can go far further, regenerating new muscle fibres, such as skin, fins, the heart and in the larval stage, the brain," Professor Currie said.