The present invention relates to a method of producing an inducible animal model of stress comprising genetically modifying a non-human vertebrate to express one or more protein(s) that can be activated by light in (a) cell(s) of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, wherein the protein(s) that can be activated by light are capable of inducing the release of (i) corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and/or arginine-vasopressin (A VP) from neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the rostral hypothalamus; (ii) adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) from corticotroph cells in the anterior pituitary; and/or (iii) glucocorticoids from cells in the adrenal cortex. The present invention further relates to an animal model of stress obtained by the method of the invention and the use of said animal model for screening for a compound for preventing, ameliorating or treating stress and/or stress-associated diseases. Further, the present invention also relates to a method of screening for a compound for preventing, ameliorating and/or treating stress and/or stress-associated diseases and methods of analyzing stress behavior in fish.

Fish embryos may be successfully vaccinated or therapeutically treated if the therapeutic agent is injected into the yolk sac. Therapeutic agents may be directly injected or released from microspheres and enter the circulation and tissues. Injection into the yolk sac, combined with the use of carriers, allows for a continued, controlled release of therapeutic agents and processing of antigens. Fish vaccination or therapeutic treatment, selecting fish embryos post fertilization at the one-cell to eyed egg stage of develpment, and injecting the yolk sac with carriers associated with an antigen(s) or therapeutic agent(s), may be fully automated.

Protein indicators useful for calcium imaging, in particular, red genetically-encoded calcium indicators (GECIs) disclosed herein rival best-of-class green GECIs in terms of sensitivity for detecting neural activity, and can be monitored in vivo. The presently-disclosed subject matter further includes a method of monitoring cell activity comprising stimulating a cell comprising a red GECI polypeptide; and detecting fluorescence emitted by the cell.

The present invention relates to transgenic blue ornamental fish, as well as methods of making such fish by in vitro fertilization techniques. Also disclosed are methods of establishing a population of such transgenic fish and methods of providing them to the ornamental fish industry for the purpose of marketing.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer-storage media, for fish weight estimation based on fish tracks identified in images. In some implementations, a method includes obtaining images of fish enclosed in a fish enclosure, identifying fish tracks shown in the images of the fish, determining a quality score for each of the fish tracks, selecting a subset of the fish tracks based on the quality scores, determining a representative weight of the fish in the fish enclosure based on weights of the fish shown in the subset of the fish tracks, and outputting the representative weight for display or storage at a device connected to the one or more processors.

In alternative embodiments, the invention provides nucleic acid sequences that are genetic polymorphic variations of the human TMEM216 gene, and TMEM216 polypeptide encoded by these variant alleles. In alternative embodiments, the invention provides methods of determining or predicting a predisposition to, or the presence of, a ciliopathy (or any genetic disorder of a cellular cilia or cilia anchoring structure, basal body or ciliary function) in an individual, such as a Joubert Syndrome (JS), a Joubert Syndrome Related Disorder (JSRD) or a Meckel Syndrome (MKS). In alternative embodiments, the invention provides compositions and methods for the identification of genetic polymorphic variations in the human TMEM216 gene, and methods of using the identified genetic polymorphisms and the proteins they encode, e.g., to screen for compounds that can modulate the human TMEM216 gene product, and possibly treat JS, JSRD or MKS. In alternative embodiments, the invention provides cells, cell lines and/or non-human transgenic animals that can be used as screening or model systems for studying ciliopathies and testing various therapeutic approaches in treating ciliopathies, e.g., JS, JSRD or MKS.

Methods for the production of reproductively sterile fish and aquatic animals for aquaculture, the aquarium trade, and control of invasive species are described. The methods include disruption of gonadal development through the administration of compounds that lead to the failure of fertile gonadal development. Compounds may be delivered to the eggs prior to fertilization or water activation or post fertilization and water activation by contacting unfertilized or pre-water-activated fertilized eggs or fertilized eggs in an immersion medium including the compound of interest. Compounds may be conjugated with a molecular transporter compound effective for chorionic transport of the conjugate. The compounds may be antisense Morpholino oligomers that are capable of effectively suppressing the expression of the dead end gene or other essential genes for germ cell development in fish and other egg-producing aquatic animals.

The present invention relates to transgenic ornamental fish, as well as methods of making such fish by in vitro fertilization. Also disclosed are methods of establishing a population of such transgenic fish and methods of providing them to the ornamental fish industry for the purpose of marketing.

The present invention relates to transgenic blue ornamental fish, as well as methods of making such fish by in vitro fertilization techniques. Also disclosed are methods of establishing a population of such transgenic fish and methods of providing them to the ornamental fish industry for the purpose of marketing.

Disclosed is a novel means which makes it possible to steadily mass-produce knockout individuals even in large animals. The method of the present invention is a method for producing a non-human large mammal or fish (non-human animal) that produces gametes originating in a different individual, and comprises transplanting at least one pluripotent cell derived from a second non-human animal into an embryo derived from a first non-human animal, said embryo being at a cleavage stage and having a genome in which a function of nanos3 gene is inhibited, to prepare a chimeric embryo, and allowing said chimeric embryo to develop into an individual. When a pluripotent cell having a genome in which a desired gene is knocked out is used as the pluripotent cell derived from the second non-human animal, the first non-human animal capable of producing germ cells in which the desired gene is knocked out is obtained, and therefore knockout non-human animals can easily be mass-produced by mating such non-human animals.