Comparative aspects of zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model for aging research

The zebrafish has emerged over the past decade as a major model system for the study of development due to its invertebrate-like advantages coupled with its vertebrate biology. These features also make it a potentially valuable organism for gerontological research. The main advantages of zebrafish include its economical husbandry, small yet accessible size, high reproductive capacity, genetic tractability, and a large and growing biological database. Although zebrafish life span is longer than rodents, it shares the feasibility of large-scale mutational analysis with the extremely short-lived invertebrate models. This review compares zebrafish with the more widely used model organisms used for aging research, including yeast, worms, flies, mice, and humans. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.