The ability of zebrafish to heal their heart after injury makes them an attractive model to investigate mechanisms governing the regenerative process.
Zebrafish – a tiny freshwater fish barely 2-3 cm long can efficiently regenerate its damaged heart within a short time period. Found in South Asia, it is a popular aquarium fish, frequently sold under the trade name Danio. Now, scientists at Pune-based Agharkar Research Institute have used this tiny animal model and identified genes that can promote heart regeneration. As reported in the high-impact Development journal, scientists have sought to decode the heart regeneration processes using this animal model.
Zebrafish, a suitable research model
Zebrafish is a small (2-3 cm long) freshwater fish found in the tropical and subtropical regions. The fish is native to South Asia’s Indo-Gangetic plains, where they are mostly found in the paddy fields and even in stagnant water and streams. The fish become adults at three months and survive 2-3 years in a laboratory condition. This fish’s unique characteristics lie in its transparency during its embryonic stages, allowing observing all organs, including beating heart and blood circulation.
A zebrafish attracts developmental biologists due to its adequate regeneration capacity of almost all its organs, including the brain, heart, eye, spinal cord. This makes it a suitable research model for biomedical scientists. Agharkar Research Institute has a state-of-art zebrafish housing where thousands of zebrafish are maintained (28 degrees Celsius water temperature with physiological water pH and conductance)are bred regularly. 📣 Follow Express Explained on Telegram
Ability to heal their heart
The ability of zebrafish to heal their heart after injury makes them an attractive model to investigate mechanisms governing the regenerative process. About two decades ago, Dr. Kenneth Poss, Professor at Duke University, USA, had first observed the zebrafish heart’s regenerative capacity. Dozens of labs worldwide are actively working to understand the mechanism behind the heart regeneration in zebrafish for the last two decades. Through years of research, scientists are coming closer to delineating the intricate pathways of zebrafish heart regeneration for further translational approaches.
Gene that promotes heart regeneration identified
Scientists used this tiny fish to identify genes/proteins that promote heart regeneration and its working model. Years of efforts have helped them identify the cellular communication network factor 2a (ccn2a), a gene that can promote heart regeneration by enhancing cardiomyocyte proliferation. “Ccn2a promotes the innate regenerative response of the adult zebrafish heart and maybe a promising therapeutic target for humans,” Dr Chinmoy Patra, Head of the Max-Planck Partner Group, Department of Developmental Biology, Agharkar Research Institute said. Earlier, ARI scientists Dr Patra, Debanjan Mukherjee and others had highlighted the importance of zebrafish to use as a model organism. Now they have identified the gene, which can promote heart regeneration. This gene enhances the proliferation of functional contractile heart cells called cardiomyocytes. They have also observed that this gene resolves the transient collagenous fibrotic scar resulting in faster regeneration. We want to investigate further the molecular pathways responsible for faster heart regeneration with the hope towards translational therapy, Dr Patra said
Cardiovascular diseases are the number 1 cause of deaths globally, taking an estimated 17.9 million lives each year, according to the World Health Organisation. Humans cannot regenerate their hearts like skin or liver. Humans cannot regenerate their hearts upon myocardial damage and a person who suffered a heart attack cannot functionally heal the damaged heart muscle, resulting in reduced pumping efficiency. While on the other hand, this unique fish has the full potential to regenerate its heart and restore its function after injury.
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Till now, there is no treatment available to restore the damaged heart function in humans. Hence scientists have sought to decode the heart regeneration processes using this model animal, which can naturally regenerate their hearts efficiently so as to understand the processes which can illuminate strategies to improve human cardiac regeneration. The model is popular in industrial discovery. Dr. Reddy’s laboratory in Hyderabad already developed a zebrafish set up for research.
Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments. She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues .
Professional Background
Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature.
Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO.
Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives.
Awards and Recognition
Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024). A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021. Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards. She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.”
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
1. Cancer & Specialized Medical Care
"Tata Memorial finds way to kill drug-resistant cancer cells" (Nov 26, 2025): Reporting on a breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease.
Discipline, diet and purpose; How a 97-year-old professor defies ageing'' (Nov 15, 2025) Report about Prof Gururaj Mutalik, the first Head of Department at Pune's B J Government Medical College who at 97 credits his longevity to healthy habits and a strong sense of purpose.
2. Environmental Health (The "Breathless Pune" Series)
Long-term exposure even to 'moderate' air leads to chronic heart, lung, kidney issues" (Nov 26, 2025): Part of an investigative series highlighting that even "safe" pollution levels are damaging to vital organs.
"For every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 level, there was 6-8% jump in medicine sales" (Nov 23, 2025): Using commercial data to prove the direct link between air quality and respiratory illnesses in Pune.
3. Lifestyle & Wellness News
"They didn't let cancer, diabetes and heart disease stop them from travelling" (Dec 22, 2025): A collaborative piece featuring survivors who share practical tips for traveling with chronic conditions.
At 17, his BP shot up to 200/120 mmHG; Lancet study flags why child and teen hypertension doubled between 2000 and 2020'' (Nov 12,2025)--A report that focusses on 17-year-old-boy's hypertensive crisis and reflects the rising global trend of high blood pressure among children and adolescents.
4. Scientific Recognition & Infrastructure
For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in Nature" (Nov 25, 2025): Covering the global recognition of Indian women scientists in gender studies and physics.
Pune researchers find a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way from early universe'' (December 3, 2025)- A report on how Indian researchers discovered a massive galaxy that existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old , one of the earliest to have been observed so far.
Signature Beat: Health, Science & Women in Leadership
Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials. She has a dedicated interest in gender diversity in health and science, often profiling women researchers who are breaking the "leaky pipeline" in STEM fields. Her writing style is scrupulous, often featuring interviews with top-tier scientists and health experts from various institutions.
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