2024 photo contest Portrait of a Zebrafish 

Honorable Mention: Portrait of a Zebrafish 

Photography by Tessa Dallo, doctoral student,
FAU Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute

Using ubiquitously expressed Zebrabow, a genetic tool aptly named for its diverse color profile, we can use confocal imaging to capture a wide array of fluorescently labelled cells. By injecting specific RNA into zebrafish embryos at the one-cell stage, a recombinase facilitates combinatorial expression of red, yellow, and cyan florescent proteins resulting in a range of colorful hues. After only a few days, we can see the rainbow overlay of different cells. Since cells with the same origin will have the same level of recombination, and therefore the same color, this is a valuable tool that can allow us to conduct cell lineage analyses.