Two Basque organizations, the Biobide biocompany and the AZTI-Tecnalia technology centre, form part of the Governing Board of the Spanish Technology Platform to promote the use of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) animal model, the DareNET Platform.

This Platform, which was officially launched on 25 November last year, has been set up to encourage basic and applied research of this animal model, and its creation is backed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the National Network Programme.

The platform is coordinated by a Governing Board that AZTI-Tecnalia Technological Centre belongs to, which acts as the platform coordinator, the Andalusian Biology Development Centre (CABD-CSIC), the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB), and the companies ZF BIOLABS and BIOBIDE, located in San Sebastian.

The most immediate objective of the DareNET Platform is to incorporate, as members, all those organisations and research teams that use the zebrafish model on a routine basis, so that the network becomes a hub for them all and, at the same time, promotes and raises awareness of the zebrafish throughout Spain and its neighbouring countries

The zebrafish is an excellent biological model for use in a range of scientific–technical areas, such as biomedicine, the environment, aquaculture, and foodstuffs. The use of the zebrafish is expanding rapidly in the scientific and business fields thanks to its high degree of genetic similarity with higher vertebrates and humans, its ease of handling and reproduction, as well as its enormous potential for the use of the new genomic and proteomic technologies.

For further information on the Platform, you can visit the website: www.daniorerio.net