How zebrafish helped save a 12-year-old’s life

Zebrafish are common model organisms, but the story behind a new study may point to just how essential these tiny fish could be. In the paper, researchers describe how they were able to save the life of a 12-year-old boy with a rare condition known as central conducting lymphatic anomaly, which causes vessels in the lymphatic system to proliferate uncontrollably and leak fluid into lungs and other organs. After identifying the mutation that caused the disease in the boy, researchers replicated the mutation in zebrafish and tested different possible treatments. One drug worked, and then the scientists, with the FDA’s blessing, gave it to the boy — and it worked again. The boy was being sized for a wheelchair before the treatment, but he’s now playing basketball and helping coach soccer.