"Who would have thought something small and transparent would be the centre of attention?" former department head Dr Robin Olds said as he cut a ribbon of zebrafish cut-outs and declared the university's $830,000 zebrafish research facility open.
As the humans dined on fish-shaped canapes and salmon sandwiches, the zebrafish, ranging in size from the almost microscopic young to adult specimens measuring about 4cm long, swam happily in their 470 shoe-box sized tanks,They were no doubt looking forward to their own evening meal of microscopic rotifers, pond algae and brine shrimps.
The tropical fish are increasingly replacing rats and mice as research models for biologists because their embryos, whose cells behave similarly to those of human embryos in the very early stages, develop in see-through eggshells and can be easily observed.
Zebrafish are already used in this country to study human diseases and disorders including muscular dystrophy, leukaemia, and cancer.
Dr Olds, now chief executive of the Health Research Council of New Zealand, was one of the people who championed the establishment of the facility to support the work of Dr Julia Horsfield, who came to Dunedin in late 2007 after working at a similar facility at the University of Auckland.
Dr Horsfield said on Friday much thought had gone into the main zebrafish room and a neighbouring quarantine area for fish imported from overseas.
The air in both rooms was warmed using heat generated by large freezers across the corridor, and the lighting in the rooms was on a timer, allowing the fish to experience "sunset" at 10pm and "sunrise" at 8am.
The tanks' water pressure, water treatment and cleaning systems were also computer-controlled.
Over time, it was hoped another $200,000 would be raised to buy 630 more tanks, giving the facility the capacity for more than 30,000 fish, Dr Horsfield said.
Already, four groups of researchers were using the facility, and she said more projects were expected.
When she first arrived, Dr Horsfield was working with fish housed in a small bank of tanks sitting on a benchtop.
She said she felt a "glow" seeing the new facility.
"I never come into this [main] room without an intense feeling of pride, and a glow that it has come together so well."
