Seen the new Spider-Man flic? The opening scene alone may be worth the price of admission for zebrafish aficionados. The movie starts with a scientist explaining to a group of high school students that he has a plan to regenerate his severed arm and asks the students if they can guess what this plan could be. Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man) wonders if it's through cross-species genetics: ‘zebrafish can, after all, regenerate cells'.
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The scientist is impressed, though not sufficiently as he winds up using lizards. The scientific and technical aspects rapidly get as out of hand as the thrills and spills become improbable, so don't expect The Amazing Spider-Man to swim to an Oscar. But at least zebrafish are mentioned on the big screen in the context of modern biomedical research. And more importantly, the awe-inspired looks from your kids as they blurt out comments like ‘Wow! You're really working on something useful!’ will have you reeling (pun intended) with joy.
