Unlocking the Power of Fish Cells: How Salmonids Break Down Pollutants

Have you ever wondered how fish deal with chemicals in their environment? Scientists have been exploring this by studying fish cells in the lab. They looked at how well these cells can break down, or biotransform, harmful pollutants. They used two systems: small parts of cells from brown trout and rainbow trout livers, and whole rainbow trout cells. Guess where they found the most active cells? The liver! But hey, that's not all. Cells from the intestine, gills, and brain could also do the job, though not as well. Some cells needed a little push to start working, a process called induction. This is like giving a car a jump start. The scientists found that cell lines from the intestine and liver were super responsive to this push. This is exciting news because it means we might not need to use live fish to test how pollutants affect them. These cell systems could do the job just as well.