Practical work will begin on Monday 19 July 2010 and end on Thursday 29 July 2010. The mornings and afternoons of each day will be taken up with lab work. Evening sessions will be devoted primarily to research seminars presented by teaching staff on the course. Time will also be allocated for student poster presentations during the first and second weeks of the course. Friday 30 July will be devoted to a series of group presentations and discussions between students and teachers in which the results obtained during the course will be reviewed and the advantages of the organisms used will be discussed.

Zebrafish
1. Inactivation of gene function in embryos by microinjection of morpholino oligonucleotides.
2. Visualisation of gene expression in mutant, morphant and wild-type embryos using lineage-specific GFP reporter transgenes.
3. Use of fluorescent reporters of metabolism for analysis of mutant phenotypes and pharmacological manipulation of metabolic pathways.
4. Use of fluorescent proteins and other fluorescent molecules for in vivo imaging of neuronal activity, neuronal morphogenesis and neurotransmitter-dependent activation of muscle cells.
5. Behavioural assays for the analysis of drug addiction mechanisms.
6. In vivo real-time imaging and quantitative analysis of blood flow, the inflammatory response and cell migration.