Hey CATHERINE from L.A.:
It's a fish! When someone you love is dying of a disease just know that it possibly could have been prevented if nutjob groups like ALF, ELF, and PETA weren't hindering their progress every step of the way. It is sad to think of some of the animals that get tested on, but if it means my wife can beat breast cancer 10 years from, so be it.

Dave, tampa, FL

I wonder if they can make me transparent?

Jeff KARP, Boston, USA

maybe this makes me a bad person, but when i first saw this article, my heart went out to the poor fish...

i don't care if its just a fish, i think that intentionally making a creature suffer is wrong.

Catherine, Los Angeles,

The See-Through medaka fish has existed for several years and has already contributed to a better understanding of how cancer develops.

This should be mentioned, as it was the medaka See-Through mutant which is a highly innovative and significant breakthrough in science.

kristen gorman, Vancouver,

I am shocked and awed that a animal rights group has not put an end to this cancer research. How many innocent fish must suffer in order to save thousands of human lives. In my account, this is one to many. But for real, this is great research and has huge implications for future research; good work and sorry Nemo. You had your day.

Andrew McAdams, highlands Ranch, CO

Medical science has always benefited from use of simpler animals.

Mustafa Djamgoz, Imperial College London, London, U.K.

The "engineered" the fish because zebrafish are genetically similar to humans. Finish reading next time :9

Yuchen Zhang, Ithaca, NY

Do Glass Fish and the Glass Catfish also have gene similarities with humans?

Cezar Popescu, Anaheim, CA

Dude,

The glass fish and glass catfish aren't species like the zebrafish that science has spent 1000's of person years developing as a model system. The point isn't just that the fish is more transparent, it's also an animal science know a huge amount about, one with a mostly sequenced genome, and genetic tools. It would take decades for the "glass catfish" to be as useful.

FishSticks, Boston, MA

In case you weren't reading the entire article, they engineered the fish because of it's genetic similarities to humans. Glass fish might not be as similiar. Get a clue.

mh, s,

Zebra fish are are a "model organism," or a well studied lab animal. This means that there are specific tools that scientist know how to use and know what the results should look like for this specific variety of fish. It would take much more time to re-tool all the techniques that scientists use on the Zebra fish to use on Glass fish. Also, the genome of zebra fish has been sequenced, which allows even more specific studies not able to be done in other fish.
That is why this specially breed fish is useful.

JAH, New Haven, CT

jjv, the article says that zebrafish were chosen specifically for their genetic similarities to humans. Presumably, experimenting with glass fish would not be as valuable to their research.

They must have found some other way to abuse common sense and waste resources on pointless research, as all scientists do.

Matt, LA, CA

reread the article - the reason the zebra fish was used is because of "their strong genetic similarities to human beings". the fish you mention do not have this attribute to their credit. Had they "jumped in their car" and ran down to the local pet shop, they would not have had what they needed..

GMack, Cary, USA/NC

They had to engineer the fish because the zebra fish shares a genetic makeup similar to humans. I wanna see them make clear chimps or pigs, that'd be cool!

Dave, Washington, DC

I wonder how those fish feels about this. I mean, they are going to inject them with a cancer and watch them die :shocker: lol. I am surprised the animal rights groups have not retaliated about this "cruelty."

I am all for it though, a few fish lives for the chance at learning information that could save millions of human lives. Quite an ingenious idea too. Sorry fishes, Woe to the Conquered, lol.

VaeVictis, Tal., FL

LOL, they had to ENGINEER a fish that is transparent? Haven't these "geniuses" ever heard of the common Glass Fish? They can be bought in ANY Pet Store that sells tropical fish and costs no more then about $3-4.00. There is also a fish called the Glass Catfish, also easily available and costing the same. BTW, at wholesale these fish can be bought for about $.40, that's FORTY CENTS a piece.

I can only wonder at the time and money these damn fools wasted to "design" a fish when they could have jumped in their car and had what they needed in 10 minutes.

jjv, Mahwah, USA/NJ

Wait... is there something going on with Britney Spears?

Fred Smith, Atlanta, GA

Yes, I want to see more stories like this and less of britney spears.

peter , san francisco, ca