Optical Mapping in the Developing Zebrafish Heart.

Understanding the developmental basis of cardiac electrical activity has proven technically challenging, largely as a result of the inaccessible nature of the heart during cardiogenesis in many organisms. The emergence of the zebrafish as a model organism has availed the very earliest stages of heart formation to experimental exploration. The zebrafish also offers a robust platform for genetic and chemical screening. These tools have been exploited in screens for modifiers of cardiac electrophysiologic phenotypes and in screens for novel drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]