Project funded to reduce the number of zebrafish used in research

Doctoral student Sara Jorge, carrying out research at the Institute of Research and Innovation in Health of the University of Porto (i3S), recently won a “3R Animal Research Tomorrow Award” with the ZMATRIX project, which proposes a less aggressive alternative for cortisol collection in zebrafish. The aim is to reduce the number of animals used in research that involves measuring this stress hormone.

This award, worth five thousand euros, represents “a great honor” to the researcher, as it means “recognition of the work carried out in recent years” during her PhD in Veterinary Sciences at the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS). Sara Jorge is developing her research in the “Laboratory Animal Science” group, led by Anna Olsson, under the guidance of i3S researcher Ana Valentim, and co-supervision of Luís Félix, from UTAD, and Benjamín Costas, from CIIMAR. In addition, underlines Sara Jorge, “this award motivates me to work even harder for a science that respects animal welfare, especially of fish, where there is still a long way to go to reach the same level of care as given to rodents”.

Precisely because “there is little research on fish welfare”, the researcher is very grateful to Animal Research Tomorrow “for the opportunity to create a positive change in science and promote methodologies that respect the welfare of these animals”.

For the project she is developing, Sara Jorge clarifies that the “methodology currently used for the extraction of cortisol in zebrafish is terminal or stressful”, as such, she explains, “I intend to study the use of non-terminal matrices (mucus of the skin, scales and portions of fins), which can be easily collected from fish”.

The effectiveness of these samples will be determined through analytical and biological validation, and the impact of their collection on the well-being of the fish will also be studied. As this approach does not imply the death of the fish, underlines Sara Jorge, “it will make it possible to reduce the number of animals used and allow longitudinal studies in zebrafish after cortisol measurement”.