Zebrafish and CRISPR—A synergistic approach to decipher and cure human diseases

Abstract

Rapidly emerging infectious and genetic diseases demand robust vertebrate models to investigate pathogenesis and accelerate therapeutic discovery. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) offer substantial translational value owing to their conserved physiology, optical transparency, rapid reproduction, and the presence of orthologs for approximately 70% of human genes and approximately 82% of disease-associated genes. The integration of CRISPR/Cas9 technology has transformed zebrafish research, enabling efficient generation of targeted knockouts, knockins, and high-throughput mutagenesis screens. This synergy supports mechanistic dissection and modeling of cardiovascular, oncologic, viral, and other genetic disorders. Despite these advantages, rigorous allele validation, consideration of paralog redundancy, maternal contribution, and off-target analysis remain essential to ensure translational accuracy. This review summarizes current applications, methodological advances, limitations, and best-practice recommendations for combining zebrafish models with genome editing to improve understanding and treatment of human diseases.

Keywords

animal model / Cas9 / CRISPR / Danio rerio / genome editing / zebrafish

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2026 The Author(s). Animal Models and Experimental Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Chinese Association for Laboratory Animal Sciences.