Transparent Frog: organ development in(-)sight
By Antonio Marques • Oct 4th, 2007 • Category: Biology & Biochemistry, NewsIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
A research group from the Hiroshima University, and led by Professor Masayuki Sumida, has created what is to be considered the first four-legged animal with transparent skin. The breakthrough was achieved by successively mating two Japanese Brown Frogs (Rana japoinica) and their offspring that carried a recessive mutation giving them pale skin.
Having a transparent animal during its entire life cycle will allow for monitoring organ growth and potential cancer development without having to kill and dissect the animals.
I’m actually just thinking about the sheer numbers of frogs high-school biology classes will spare.
Anyway, here is a video (courtesy of BBC) where you can see it alive and well.
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