Why do zebrafish make such good animal models?

Zebrafish is widely used in research because of its numerous beneficial properties.

Maintenance

First, Zebrafish is very robust and easy to maintain. Since they are found naturally in the ponds, their ideal conditions can be folded easily.
They are also very cheap; however, they require more space than other model organisms such as flies. This model is also a vertebrate, which gives it an advantage over other models.
Reproduction
Zebrafish has extraordinary high fertility, producing hundreds of eggs every week. They also have a very short generation time, meaning that scientists have endless supply of this model. This shortens the total experimental process and is determined to be useful in the production of the mutant.
Another advantage is that the Zebrafish eggs are converted externally, allowing scientists to study their initial development easily. This is an advantage over other models, such as mice, which are converted internally and therefore a more rear-sight investigation.
Morphological characteristics
The Zebrafish slide helps in observing its internal structures in situ. Its organs share the same main characteristics as human beings and can be used to study human development processes.
Zebrafish embryos can also be genetically modified. The 70% share of Zebrafish from its genes with humans, and 84% of disease-related genes have counterparts of a zebrafish. The Zebrafish genome has been completely ordered and over 140,000 genes have been transformed to study its role in the development and disease.


Toxicity assay