Matthew Salanga, an assistant professor in NAU’s Department of Biological Sciences, is leading an 18-month project funded through a Flinn Foundation grant of $100,000. His team, which includes experts in experimental biology, computational systems biology and translational medicine, will study melanoma tumors on zebrafish, a small minnow-sized fish that has 70 percent of the same genes that are found in humans. Physiologically, zebrafish also have pigment cells in their skin, called melanocytes, which give them their stripes and their name. In humans, these cells are responsible for creating a tan when exposed to the sun, and if dysregulated can give rise to melanoma. Read more