Fish kept at Hong Kong university could hold key to finding cure for dementia, say scientists who won prestigious innovation award

More than 30,000 transparent tropical fish kept in the water tanks of a university could be the key to Hong Kong scientists finding a cure for dementia.

Professor Wen Zilong, of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), said he has kept these genetically modified zebrafish at his laboratory because their nervous systems are similar to that of humans.

By studying how the brain develops in the fish, his team of scientists have discovered how a disruption in the development of some stem cells could led to neurodegenerative disorders, a group of illnesses that affects thousands of Hongkongers annually.

Wen and his students have recently received the Croucher Innovation Award for the breakthrough.

But Wen said further study would be needed before a treatment could be developed for dementia, a disease which affects brain functions including memory, thinking, comprehension, learning and judgment, and eventually leads to death.

“There’s still a long way to go [before a cure could be developed],” said Wen, a researcher in the school’s department of life science.