Saulius Sumanas uses zebrafish to model human diseases, an approach that could help identify new drugs and advance tissue regeneration. At least 70% of the genes in humans are like those in zebrafish, and 84% of human disease genes have a zebrafish counterpart.

“The mechanisms regulating vertebrate blood vessel growth are remarkably conserved (across species) from zebrafish to humans,” Sumanas said. “Even drugs that suppress new blood vessel formation, like the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors used to treat tumors in patients, work the same way in zebrafish as they do in humans.”

• Saulius Sumanas