El Profesor Mayer imparte una charla en el COB

El Profesor Ian Mayer del Norwegian School of Veterinary Science impartió una charla en el Salón de Actos del COB, durante una visita que ha realizado al Centro el miércoles 22 de septiembre. El Dr. Mayer es especialista en ecología marina y estuarios con experiencia en una amplia gama de líneas de investigación.

El título de la conferencia escogido para la ocasión ha sido “Use of small fish models in environmental ecotoxicology” en el que ha defendido las ventajas que ofrecen en la investigación los pequeños peces frente a los mamíferos tradicionales. Hoy en día, el pez cebra es la especie más utilizada en la investigación biomédica, pero existen otras especies, como el espinoso, que resultan más útiles en los análisis de ecotoxicología medioambiental.

Abstract: Small fish models are increasingly being used in scientific research, including for chemical testing and toxicology. Fish models offer a number of advantages over traditional mammalian models. They are easy to maintain in small laboratory aquaria, cost effective and easy to breed in captivity. Most species have a short life-span, and large numbers of offspring can be produced all year round. The genome of many of these fish models have now been sequenced which has greatly enhanced their usefulness in biomedical research and molecular genetics. While the zebrafish will remain the predominant small fish model in biomedical research, other species offer alternative advantages especially in the fields of chemical testing and toxicology. These alternative species include the medaka, fathead minnow and three-spined stickleback. The stickleback is increasingly being promoted as a new fish model for both chemical testing and environmental ecotoxicology. The stickleback has a number of additional advantages over the other fish models in that it is a native species found in all aquatic habitats throughout the northern hemisphere, and is the only species with a quantifiable androgenic end-point. The stickleback is presently being used as a model species to evaluate the deleterious impact of oil pollutants.