The zebrafish has become an important new animal model for drug screening, target identification, and validation of various disease models. Although progress has been made in adapting image based high- content screening systems, there are several challenges for automation. To date, the quantitative evaluation of zebrafish assays is performed semi-manually at best, which constitutes a significant bottleneck in terms of workflow and screening cost. In Phase I research, we will specialize software algorithms that will enable automated quantitative assessment of various toxicity endpoints, thus allowing the screening of a large number of potentially toxic compounds.
Use of zebrafish as an alternative animal model for drug screening can greatly accelerate the drug screening process, decrease costs, and provide more accurate results than cell-based assays.
