Vice President Kim Featured in WVII, WABI Reports on Zebrafish, Flu Research
Carol Kim, a University of Maine microbiologist and vice president for research and graduate school dean, spoke with WVII (Channel 7) and WABI (Channel 5) about a research team led by UMaine scientists that has shown two strains of human influenza A virus (IAV) can infect live zebrafish embryos, and that treatment with an anti-influenza compound reduces mortality. It is the first study establishing the zebrafish as a model for investigating IAV infection. “What we can do is we can infect the zebrafish with a virus that say is tagged with a green fluorescent protein or red fluorescent protein and we can actually watch as the infected fish, what tissue it infects and then what are the immune cells doing,” Kim said. She added the study also was a great educational experience for students.