Ribbit!

Ribbit!

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have found that embryonic stem cells derived from the African Clawed Frog are useful in research. This is the first time stem cells have been taken from an amphibian for this purpose. The study is reported on PhysOrg.com. The researchers found that the frog’s embryonic stem cells have the same mechanism for limitless division that humans and mice do. The human protein Oct4 binds to DNA and activates the genes that keep the cells dividing; a protein called PouV performs the same function in frogs. The research involved putting PouV proteins into mouse cells that lacked the Oct4 gene; the PouV restored the functionality. According to the article, the frog is easier to study than mice, so it may become a new lab species of choice.

Some of the early experiments in embryology were done on frogs and newts by Hans Spemann, who later won a Nobel Prize in medicine. I remember reading Spemann’s work while I was in college—he took embryonic cells that would differentiate into one body part in a frog and transplanted them into an embryo of a different species to try to see whether the programming was in the cell or in the organism as a whole. There were some pretty funky results (at least from the viewpoint of the first year college student that I was).

We’re growing tadpoles in a habitat in my son’s bedroom right now; it’s interesting to watch them develop, even though I’ve seen it lots of times before. And very zen to just sit and watch them swimming.