DanioLabs Ltd. was established in October 2001 to develop new drugs for neuro-ophthalmologic disorders. Frustrated at the lack of effective treatments available in these areas, the company's founder set about using zebrafish models of human disease to identify both novel drug targets and effective new drugs. Zebrafish can be manipulated to provide particularly good models of a number of human diseases, including CNS, ophthalmologic, digestive and cardiovascular system disorders.

A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group, E-medical market research, features profiles of Jstreetdata.com Inc., MedPanel Inc. and TargetRx Inc. Plus these selected Start-Ups across Health Care: Acurian Inc., Cbyon Inc., Lorantis LTD, Vascular Architects Inc. and Zygogen LLC.

Buoyed by the continuing interest in zebrafish as a model organism for comparative genomics research, Zygogen has developed fluorescent transgenic zebrafish lines it uses to identify and validate new targets and screen drugs.