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从八十年代初开始的、通过突变体分离早期胚胎发育基因的研究，揭示了无脊椎动物果蝇形态发生的分子机制，成为１９９５年诺贝尔生理或医学奖的主要内容，同时也标志着发育生物学已经成为生物学的带头学科。该成果的取得得益于果蝇具备发育生物学研究模型的特点，即可同时进行胚胎学和发育遗传学研究。在脊椎动物发育生物学研究方面，由于缺少适当的研究模型，有关早期胚胎发育基因表达调控的研究始终未获突破性进展。包括小鼠、鸡、爪蟾等在内的一些脊椎动物都只适用于胚胎学或者遗传学某一学科的研究，均不是理想的发育生物学研究模型。一种小型的鲤科鱼———斑马鱼，逐渐成为发育生物学研究的最佳脊椎动物模型。它光周期产卵，卵大，胚胎在体外发育，胚胎发育速度快，早期胚胎完全透明，这些特点使它成为很好的脊椎动物胚胎学研究模型；同时，它个体小，产卵量大，产卵周期短，单倍体、雌核发育二倍体的制作和突变体的获得均较容易，精子可以冷冻保存，所有这些特点又使斑马鱼非常适合于发育遗传学研究。本文将详细论述斑马鱼作为脊椎动物发育生物学研究模型的特点，以及作为模型动物正在进行的有关工作。
Since the early 1980s, the study of the isolation of early embryonic development genes by mutants has revealed the molecular mechanism of morphogenesis in invertebrates Drosophila and has been the main focus of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1995, as well as the developmental Biology has become the leading discipline of biology. This achievement is due to the fact that Drosophila possesses the characteristics of a developmental biology research model that enables simultaneous embryological and developmental genetic studies. In the field of vertebrate developmental biology, there has been no breakthrough in the research of regulation of gene expression in early embryonic development due to lack of appropriate research models. Some vertebrates, including mice, chickens and Xenopus, are only suitable for research in embryology or genetics. They are not ideal models for developmental biology. A small carp - a zebrafish - is becoming the best vertebrate model for developmental biology. It spawn photoperiod, egg, embryo in vitro development, embryonic development speed, early embryo completely transparent, these features make it a very good vertebrate embryology research model; the same time, it is small, small amount of spawning, Short spawning cycles, production of haploids and gynogenetic diploids and acquisition of mutants are all easier and sperm are cryopreserved, all of which make zebrafish well suited to developmental genetics. This article discusses in detail the characteristics of zebrafish as a vertebrate developmental biology research model, and ongoing work as a model animal.