The zebrafish (Danio rerio) have become increasingly used in biomedical research. This popularity stems from its small adult size, transparent embryos, high fecundity, external development, and ease of maintenance. As vertebrates, zebrafish share genetic and physiological similarities with humans, with approximately 70% of genes conserved between the two species. These characteristics make zebrafish a versatile model organism used in virtually all areas of biology and biomedicine.
The GIMM Aquatic Facility supports biomedical research using aquatic animal species, primarily zebrafish, adhering to the highest standards of husbandry, health, and welfare, while promoting a culture of conscious and responsible use of laboratory animals. The facility offers state-of-the art housing equipment and expert staff to assist researchers in various scientific endevours, including embryonic development, physiology, cellular mechanisms relevant to human diseases, behavior, organ regeneration, and toxicology.
The GIMM Aquatic Facility operates two sites located in Lisbon and Oeiras. While primarily supporting zebrafish research, the facility can accommodate other aquatic species, upon consultation and availability, such as the frog Xenopus laevis, and the turquoise killifish. The zebrafish facility includes dedicated rooms for housing, procedures, behavior, and quarantine.
The Aquatic Facility team comprises dedicated technical staff committed to supporting the research community while maintaining the highest standards of animal care, according to the 3Rs: Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement. In addition to performing the husbandry routines and maintenance of life support systems, the team supports advanced services such as embryo and adult injections, behavior assays, and assisted reproduction. The full list of services can be found in the services tab.
The Aquatic Facility offers courses on Laboratory Animal Science, and hands-on training tailored to the requests of the in-house research community. The staff regularly attends national and international training events to stay updated on the latest scientific developments and methodologies, ensuring the integration of cutting-edge knowledge and innovative practices into our research institute.
Equipment for Housing and Husbandry
Equipment for Experiments
General Laboratory Equipment
Facility Maintenance
Advanced Services
Training
The Aquatic Facility is available to internal and external researchers. Users must be trained in Laboratory Animal Sciences and hold a personal license issued by DGAV. Additionally, on-site hands-on training is provided by the facility. For more information on registering for courses and booking an induction session, contact the head of the facility.
Contact: ana.borges@gimm.pt
According to the Portuguese Law (Decreto Lei nº 113/2013), all research projects using vertebrate animal models require previous approval by a National Entity, Direção Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária (DGAV). These projects must also be approved by the Animal Welfare Body (ORBEA in portuguese – Orgão Responsável pelo Bem-Estar dos Animais). Therefore, the Responsible Investigators of scientific projects involving vertebrate animals must undergo a process that begins with project submission to the respective AWB/ORBEA, through one of the following e-mail addresses:
Oeiras site: orbea@igc.gulbenkian.pt
Lisbon site: imm-orbea@medicina.ulisboa.pt
All projects utilizing the GIMM Aquatic Facility must acknowledge its use. Examples of appropriate acknowledgement are provided below
“(…) Aquatic Facility for zebrafish infrastructure and animal care, (or technical assistance, or support, or whatever applies to the project). “
“We would like to thank the Zebrafish Facility of Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes for their technical support”
Additionally, you may acknowledge specific facility staff members that played a prominent role in the project or experiment, if applicable.
For projects conducted in either site, between June 2017 and December 2020, CONGENTO funding should be acknowledged, as follows:
“This work was developed with the support from the research infrastructure CONGENTO, co-financed by Lisboa Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal) under the project LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-022170.”
Alternatively, if space is constrained, the following abbreviated version or at least the project reference:
“CONGENTO LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-022170, co-financed by FCT (Portugal) and Lisboa2020, under the PORTUGAL2020 agreement (European Regional Development Fund).”
Zebrafish rearing conditions should be described in detail in scientific papers to allow reproducible experiments. Housing, water, and environmental conditions, animal density, diets and feeding regime, and health status, are parameters that affect research results and are not standardized; therefore, they may vary from one facility to another. To include this data in the methods section of your research paper, please contact the head of the facility during the manuscript preparation stage.
For publication, the following ethical statement can be used:
This research project was ethically reviewed and approved by the ORBEA (Animal Welfare Body) of the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência/Instituto de Medicina Molecular (chose the appropriate), and by the Portuguese National Entity that regulates the use of laboratory animals (DGAV – Direção Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária. All experiments conducted on animals followed the Portuguese (Decreto-Lei nº 113/2013) and European (Directive 2010/63/EU) legislations, concerning housing, husbandry and animal welfare.