Zebrafish are easy and inexpensive to maintain, their embryos are transparent, and their genetics tractable. Thus, they have become a powerful model with which to investigate an enormous variety of problems in biology and medicine. As an example of their increasing popularity, over the past decade the number of zebrafish papers listed on PubMed has increased by over tenfold. With increased popularity comes increased diversity in the organ systems and cell biological processes under study. Until now, to obtain a comprehensive view of zebrafish biology the only sources were: the scientific literature,which is vast and not easily traversed without expert guidance; The Zebrafish Book, which needs updating; and the Company of Biologists Zebrafish CD ROM, which is permanently stuck in 1996.
Fortunately, there is hope in the form of a new book, Pattern Formation in Zebrafish, which goes a long way towards helping the uninitiated to understand why...