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Janelia Research Campus Expands Danionella Fish Facility to Advance Brain Science

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"A big, risky bet." – Gerry Rubin, founding executive director of Janelia Research Campus.

Inside the Transparent Fish Brain: Janelia’s $1 Billion Bet on Danionella

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus has announced a major expansion dedicated to the study of the transparent fish Danionella cerebrum. The facility will grow from 2,000 to 6,000 square feet, accommodating thousands of new tanks. The number of scientists working on the species is expected to surge from roughly 10 to 100 or more.

Why This Fish?

Janelia leaders stated that the fish's transparent body and missing top skull allows direct observation of neural activity. Their goal is to use Danionella to understand how the brain controls complex behaviors—insights they believe could apply to other species, including humans.

"Our brains share many features of the brains of fish." – Nelson Spruston, executive director, Janelia Research Campus.

A Newcomer to Science

Danionella cerebrum was officially identified as a separate species in 2021. It is smaller than the more famous zebrafish and remains transparent throughout adulthood—while zebrafish are only transparent as larvae.

The fish has roughly 650,000 neurons, compared to approximately 86 billion in humans. This simplicity makes it an ideal model for mapping a complete brain circuit.

The Grand Plan

Janelia’s ambitions for Danionella are sweeping:

  • Create a complete connectome of the Danionella brain, similar to Janelia’s fruit fly connectome released in 2024.
  • Develop tools that let scientists study freely swimming fish, not just immobilized ones.
  • Utilize artificial intelligence to analyze the massive volume of neural data generated.
  • Understand at least one complex behavior, such as schooling, within ten years.

"Our brains share many features of the brains of fish. I am hopeful we can understand one complex behavior in a decade." – Erin O'Shea, President of HHMI.

The Bottom Line

Janelia is clear about the stakes. Gerry Rubin, the campus's founding executive director, described the entire effort bluntly: "A big, risky bet." If it pays off, the transparent fish could unlock secrets of the brain that have remained hidden in larger, opaque species for decades.