Nordic Life Science 1
90 “ZEBRAFISH OFFER UNIQUE INSIGHT INTO HUMAN DIS
EASES AND EXPRESS ALL HUMAN NEUROTRANSMITTERS AND RECEPTORS, WHICH MAKES THEM VERY SUITABLE FOR NEUROLOGICAL SCREENS.” Haraldur Thorsteinsson, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, 3Z Pharmaceuticals and his son Stígur Breki Haraldsson has always been fascinated by psychology and the brain. While working in a psychiatric hospital as a student he became especially interested in psychiatric disorders and research in that particular field. He holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology from the University of Iceland and a Master of Science in neuropsychology from the University of Maastricht, Holland. Haraldur’s research experience in the field of neurobehavioral science eventually led him to co-found the drug development and contract research company 3Z Pharmaceuticals in 2008, together with Karl Karlsson, neuroscientist and professor at Reykjavik University. The company sprung from research at RU Neurolab, a Reykjavik University based neuroscience laboratory, in which a zebrafish model for studying sleep and wake physiology has been in development since 2006. “We realized that there was great potential in doing high throughput behavioral drug screens in transgenic zebrafish models of Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders, utilizing the amenability of zebrafish to high throughput screening and genetic engineering. By using this powerful drug discovery engine we aim to meet some of the high unmet clinical needs for new therapeutics in the field,” describes Haraldur. Zebrafish, which have high genetic similarity to humans, lend themselves to genetic modulation and have a rich repertoire for behavioral phenotyping. They offer unique insight into human diseases and express all human neurotransmitters and receptors, which makes them very suitable for neurological screens, according 90 NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG