Xenopus's Secret Talent

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Know of anyone who thinks they are pregnant but does not want to buy a pregnancy test? Well no need to buy a pregnancy test, when you can but a frog that can give you your results, and make a pretty cool pet!  Xenopus laevis can do both! I learned about this in one of my other classes and found this interesting but had no real idea as to how this came about or how it works.

Frogs are not the first animal to be used as a pregnancy test. Other animals that have been tested and found to work are mice and rabbits. But they could not give results like Xenopus, instead they had to be killed, dissected and have their ovaries examined.

It turns out all one has to do is inject some of their urine into the dorsal lymph sac of a Xenopus laevis female, and check a few hours later. If the Xenopus laevis lays eggs between eight to twelve hours later, then that means you are pregnant. If you so happen to buy a male Xenopus, then the frog would respond by producing sperm instead of eggs. This test works because urine that belongs to pregnant women contain the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and most standard pregnancy tests that are used today rely on whether this hormone is present or not.

This finding is not new, in fact it has been used since 1930, but I still find this pregnancy test more intriguing than simply just peeing on a stick. But maybe that is just me. I am not encouraging or discouraging anyone from getting pregnant, but this would be a cool idea on figuring out if you are pregnant. As an extra bonus you get a pet African- clawed frog as well!!

Posted by : Cynthia Bui (1)