Zebrafish, A Model Organism For Research in Dentistry

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a tropical freshwater fish, lives in South Asia, India, and Pakistan. The use of zebrafish as a model organism in embryology and genetic studies of vertebrates was first mentioned by George Streisinger. Zebrafish has become a popular vertebrate model organism for biomedical research due to its numerous advantages. Zebrafish genome has homologues of 70% human genes, 80% of which are associated with human diseases. Zebrafish embryos are transparent, developes rapidly, and the development stages can be mentored easily by a stereomicroscope. Due to its various advantages, zebrafish has been preferred in neuroscience, cancer, pharmacology and toxicity research for years. Recently, it has begun to be used as a model organism in dental research. This review aims to provide information on the use of zebrafish in many fields of dental research, dental materials and tooth formation.