During development of the nervous system, cells are influenced by their environment to adopt specific fates. These environmental signals are crucial for the correct patterning of cell types and their subsequent functional connections. Our laboratory is studying the role of the Wnt signaling pathway in neural cell fate specification and differentiation. We use the zebrafish spinal cord as a model system to examine Wnt signaling in vivo, due to its simplicity and accessibility for embryonic and genetic manipulations. To aid in this approach, we employ transgenic fish lines for both imaging of Wnt-responsive cells and manipulation of the Wnt pathway in live embryos. Through gain and loss-of-function experiments, we hope to understand how Wnt signaling activates downstream genes that influence neural cell fate during development.