Zebrafish (IMAGE) MDI Biological Laboratory Caption The MDI Biological Laboratory has announced that it has received a grant of $3.14 million over five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), an institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for the development of artificial kidney tissue to replace human kidney tissue lost to disease or injury. The funds will support research by Iain Drummond, Ph.D., a professor at the MDI Biological Laboratory and director of its Kathryn W. Davis Center for Regenerative Biology and Aging, and other members of the international (Re)Building a Kidney (RBK) consortium. Drummond's goal is to study how the zebrafish, a highly regenerative animal, regenerates nephrons, the functional units of the kidney, and to recreate those circumstances in mammals that lack this ability, such as the adult mouse and, eventually, humans. Credit MDI Biological Laboratory Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.