Fact Check: Viral ‘16‑Hour Spinal Cord’ Timelapse Shows Zebrafish Nervous System — Not a Human Embryo

Fact Check: Viral Timelapse Documents Zebrafish Nervous‑System Development, Not a Human Spinal Cord

Short answer: The widely shared timelapse labelled “16 hours of spinal cord development” does not show a human embryo. The clip documents the development of sensory neurons in a zebrafish embryo, filmed using light‑sheet microscopy by researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

What the video actually shows

The footage is a 16‑hour light‑sheet timelapse of a genetically modified zebrafish that expresses green fluorescent protein (GFP) in a subset of its sensory neurons. At the start of the movie you can see two rows of spinal neurons (we are viewing the animal’s back and side). Each neuron extends two axons along the spinal cord and later sends out a third projection — a peripheral axon — which exits the cord to innervate the skin so the embryo can sense touch. Near the end of the clip, the tip of the embryo’s tail re‑enters the focal plane.

Source and attribution

The footage was first published in 2018 in an article titled "Light Sheet Imaging Helps Capture Zebrafish Neural Development." The video is credited to Henry He (Jan Huisken’s lab, Morgridge Institute for Research) and Liz Haynes (Mary Halloran’s lab, University of Wisconsin–Madison). The same clip has circulated online, sometimes rotated by 90°, and is frequently reposted without the species or research credits, which causes the misidentification as a human embryo.

Researchers’ description: The filmed embryo is a GFP‑labelled zebrafish showing sensory neurons that grow axons along the spinal cord and extend peripheral axons into the skin — forming intricate, long‑range architectures not visible without fluorescence imaging.

Why the miscaptioning matters

Mislabeling scientific footage can spread misunderstanding about human development and the methods used in research. This clip is a valuable visualization of neuronal growth in a common model organism (zebrafish), not evidence of human embryonic spinal‑cord formation.

How to verify similar videos

• Look for original publication details or lab credits in captions and article text.
• Check for scientific terms (e.g., "zebrafish", "GFP", "light‑sheet microscopy") that indicate research imaging rather than clinical footage.
• Search the clip’s keywords with the publication year (the earliest known appearance of this clip is 2018).

Conclusion: The viral timelapse shows zebrafish sensory‑neuron development filmed over 16 hours by UW–Madison researchers; it does not show a human embryo forming a spinal cord.