Astrofish Come to Brooklyn College

Spotlight Archive

February 5, 1998
Astrofish Land at Brooklyn College

Blue Line Graphic

For nine days, 200 swordtails (the same type of tropical fish found in many homes) orbited Earth on the space shuttle Endeavour. Following that journey, many took an even more important trip, traveling to Brooklyn College's new Aquatic Research and Environmental Assessment Center (AREAC) where they are being studied to determine the effects of their flight.

The fish, which are part of an international study on the effects of weightlessness on physiology and reproduction, are now living in tanks in the center and being examined by a research team led by Distinguished Professor of Biology Martin P. Schreibman, '56. The swordtails, some of which were pregnant, lived in a nine-liter aquarium, divided into separate compartments for the fish, filter mechanisms, and plants. Data obtained from the fish will be applied to studies of human reproduction and the effects of weightlessness, radiation, and acceleration.

"Fish can be used as a research model for a variety of issues, especially reproduction," said Professor Schreibman. "Platyfish and swordtails, the two species we work with, are excellent research models to study such biomedical issues as puberty, aging, and cancer." Pigment-cell cancers can be produced in the fish by mating two known genetic stocks, providing exceptional material for research. With these studies, scientists hope to isolate a gene that may cause the cancers.

The work of Dr. Schreibman was featured in the January 21 edition of the New York Times.