Zebrafish drive vision research forward 

Zebrafish are transformative animal models for vision research. They grow very fast, producing a living eye that’s very similar to a human one within just five days. 

They can model many of the genetic eye diseases we see in humans, allowing researchers to investigate how these diseases develop and can be treated.

And they are transparent, giving unique access to see what’s going on inside the eye as it grows and as diseases evolve.

Thanks to these features, zebrafish have rapidly furthered our understanding of how the eye develops or becomes damaged in genetic eye diseases.

As a result, working closely with these animals has become essential for research groups at Moorfields and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology if they’re to keep driving forward our understanding of the eye.

In 2019, the charity awarded a grant to install fish housing facilities at the institute, creating the capacity to house almost 2,000 zebrafish across 140 individual tanks. 

As a shared, multi-user facility, this gives researchers at the institute unparalleled access to these important models to support their work.

Now, five years on, these facilities are enabling exciting new research. 

Dr Ryan MacDonald’s team, who run and are a major user of these facilities, have been making great progress to further our understanding of how structural cells in the eye (called glial cells) contribute to the health and function of our retina, and how changes in the shape of these cells might contribute to the development of eye disease.

But Dr MacDonald’s lab isn’t the only one making strides using the new facility to drive forward our understanding of the eye.

Professor Mariya Moosajee, professor of molecular ophthalmology at UCL and consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital, has been using zebrafish as an animal model for years and is now a regular user of these new facilities at the institute.

Having easier access to these fish has supported her research into how eye diseases develop and her search for new treatments that can help save people’s sight.

Dr Rodrigo Young, a new principal investigator at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and former recipient of a career development award from the charity, is conducting research that is dependent on having excellent access to zebrafish - highlighting the value of these facilities for recruiting and developing new research talent.

With the charity’s support, he was able to establish his research programme and now uses the new facility to study how the eye develops.

He hopes that his work with zebrafish will enhance genetic testing of patients whose eyes have not developed normally and will ultimately translate into potential new treatments for patients.

In 2023 the charity provided funding to further expand the facilities for housing zebrafish and add new facilities for housing killifish. 

Killifish are similar to zebrafish but age more quickly, allowing researchers to study how the eye is affected by ageing over just six months, rather than having to wait years.

This new grant enabled work which has the potential to advance research into eye conditions related to ageing such as age-related macular degeneration. 

It gives researchers unprecedented access to these essential animal models to drive forward their research programmes and ask even bigger and more fundamental questions about the eye.