James Fadool

Have you ever wondered what controls the development of the nervous system? What genes regulated the number and types of neurons generated during development? What guides formation of the synapse? How the brain responds to injury? What allows some species retain the capacity for neural regeneration and regain function but limits our own capacity for repair? The zebrafish visual system offers many advantages as a model system to answer these questions. Retinal anatomy, physiology and development are highly conserved in virtually all vertebrates. The zebrafish retina is cone-dominated like our fovea, and the cones are arranged in a highly ordered mosaic. In our work, we combine a variety of approaches spanning embryological manipulations and behavior to forward genetic screens, genome-editing, transgenesis, and live confocal imaging.