A good person to ask about this is University of Otago pathology researcher Associate Prof Julia Horsfield, who has just received a $150,000 Explorer Grant from the Health Research Council.
Prof Horsfield is director of the Otago Zebrafish Facility, a research facility which is home to more than 15,000 fish.
And the grant aims to identify new drug targets to combat gout.
This is a severely painful and debilitating condition caused by high levels of uric acid in the blood, and it affects 10%-15% of Maori and Pacific Island men, and 3%-4% of European men.
Zebrafish, as their name suggests, have plenty of stripes.
And they are used as a model in health research as they have a high degree of genetic similarity to humans and many of their biological systems and molecular pathways closely resemble our own.
Prof Horsfield was yesterday ''overjoyed'' to have gained the research grant.
In the latest grant round, she was one of four recipients nationally of the $150,000 Explorer grants which support proposed research involving ideas that are transformative and could have a major impact.
She was ''really excited'' to undertake a new collaboration with Otago colleague Associate Prof Tony Merriman, of biochemistry, who was a ''very successful and very productive'' researcher, and also to be working with Dr Justin O'Sullivan, of Auckland University.
Prof Horsfield will study the genetics behind the body's regulation of uric acid.
Previous genetic studies have identified about 30 areas of the human genome that control uric acid levels.
The researchers will use an innovative zebrafish readout system that can identify the function of the genetic regions.
Together with cell-based studies, the zebrafish bioassay will pinpoint how these regions control uric acid levels.
And the research could ''open up avenues for developing new classes of drugs'' to prevent or treat the condition, she said.
Auckland University surgical researcher Dr Anthony Phillips also received a $150,000 Explorer grant to develop a device to perform routine oxidative stress measurements in patients for the first time, utilising technology widely used in the antioxidant food industry.
Dr Stefanie Vandevijvere, and Dr O'Sullivan, both of Auckland University, also received Explorer grants.
