Repairing the spinal cord

The zebrafish can repair its spinal cord after injury at any age. In contrast, such an injury in mammals, including humans, is permanent. We have developed a model for successful spinal cord repair using zebrafish larvae. Repair and swim recovery at this age is very fast (only two days), many fish can be kept a small volume of water in petri dishes, and the entire fish can be analysed under a specialised microscope. In this project, the student will treat such fish with drugs to find new molecular mechanisms that contribute to successful spinal cord repair.