Zebrafish as a model organism for rare diseases of nervous system

Rare (orphan) diseases are an urgent unmet biomedical problem. Tremendous efforts and resources are expended for the search for cures for these diseases. Zebrafish can provide a powerful screening tool for novel orphan drugs, and may also deepen our mechanistic understanding of such rare pathological conditions. Here, we discuss various models of orphan diseases of the nervous system on zebrafish, and outline associated problems, limitations and prospects in the context of the development of personalized medicine.