Zebrafish Facility

The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s aquatics research facility is one of the largest in the world. It occupies 4,600 sq. ft. of floor space on the 5th floor of the BST3, holds 11,000 fish tanks in its main system and 480 tanks in its quarantine system, and can maintain 500,000 adult zebrafish. The main system consists of two independent 5,500-tank systems with automated water filtration. Three independent light control chambers enable alternative photoperiods. Automated monitoring equipment regulates pH, conductivity, and temperature of the water in the system. A 282 net sq. ft. injection room holds six injection apparatus within the facility. This allows up to six researchers to simultaneously perform microinjection on zebrafish embryos, an important aspect in the establishment of transgenic lines. In addition, there are seven fluorescent and bright-field, high-end, stereomicroscopes for visualizing and documenting transgenic reporter expression, and for screening chemically treated embryos. All veterinary and husbandry care is provided by veterinarians and supporting personnel in the Division of Laboratory Animal Resources (DLAR), which is overseen by the University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, and complies with the Animal Welfare 

Act, NIH policies, and all other applicable federal, state, and local laws. Animal facilities at the University of Pittsburgh have been fully accredited by the American Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) since 1971, and the International Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care.