U. Mayor CIB researcher traveled to the laboratory of Dr. Koichi Kawakami, one of the drivers of transgenesis in zebrafish
11-27-2019
11-27-2019
Dr. Leonardo Valdivia did a transgenic line scan in the laboratory of this academic, in the National Institute of Genetics of Japan, with the aim of identifying the genetic basis of the formation of the visual system in vertebrates.
The researcher at the Center for Integrative Biology (CIB) of the Universidad Mayor, Dr. Leonardo Valdivia, was awarded a fund to visit the laboratory of Dr. Koichi Kawakami at the National Institute of Genetics of Japan, located in Mishima.
The academic of our house of studies made a positive evaluation of his stay of 10 days in the Asian country, both professionally and personally.
“Dr. Koichi Kawakami was one of the first people who performed transgenesis in large-scale zebrafish, using transposons. In his laboratory, he has thousands of transgenic lines that express different reporter genes, either the green fluorescent protein or transcriptional activators, in different fish tissues” explained the doctor in Cellular, Molecular Biology and Neurosciences.
During this period, Dr. Valdivia crossed fish, obtained embryos and observed them in a fluorescence magnifying glass in order to select those that would be useful for his research, focused on how the eyes are formed and grow during embryonic development in the zebrafish as a vertebrate model.
“I traced transgenic lines that had expression of these reporter genes in subdomains of the developing eye; In this way we can follow the development of this organ and the differentiation of its cells in vivo, which is one of the most attractive features that zebrafish have as a study model” he said. It should be mentioned that these transgenic lines are a valuable tool for studies in developmental biology and neurosciences.
For the CIB researcher, the experience “was incredible. I worked a lot and until late, but it was very rewarding at the end; the study of developmental biology is one of the things that motivate me more” he said, adding that“ in that short period of time I obtained super interesting results, since I found very good expression patterns for what we want to study."
He also stressed that “Dr. Kawakami was happy because this short stay was very productive and he told me that with this background we would apply for a larger grant so that I or students in my laboratory could make a new stay, but for a longer time and thus track more transgenic lines. That has been very good, because having the support of this researcher of that caliber, who is one of the most important in the world in the field of zebrafish, opens up new doors to boost our research at the Universidad Mayor and thus contribute to understand how eyes are formed in health and disease”.
The specialist commented that in the laboratory “I also met people who showed me what life is like in this city and it was fantastic. They took me to eat fugu (puffer fish) and that was quite an experience, since it requires the cook to have years of training and a special license to prepare it, because some internal organs of this fish have lethal amounts of tetrodotoxin and if it is poorly cut It can paralyze the muscles of those who consume them and cause death. Also, I had the opportunity to go to Tokyo, a city I didn't know. Everything has been a gain."
“I was able to do good science, met wonderful people and felt welcome. In professional terms it was excellent to be able to strengthen ties with Dr. Kawakami, and in personal terms it was also very good for the cultural wealth that was fantastic” said Dr. Valdivia.
