Ciencia Puerto Rico

My NRSA funded project seeks to characterize the development of electrical properties of motoneurons in the zebrafish spinal cord. The goal of our work is to understand what intrinsic genetic factors play a role in the specification of motoneuron electrical properties. The zebrafish as a model system provides us with many advantages to accomplish these goals. Whole cell patch clamp recordings from motoneurons in situ allow us to study the electrical properties of motoneurons from very early developmental stages. In addition, the ease for the manipulation of gene expression in zebrafish allows us to affect the expression of relevant genes important for motoneuron specification.