Transparent Frog to Aid in Cancer Research

Scientists at the Institute for Amphibian Biology at Hiroshima University in Japan, under the lead of Professor Masayuki Sumida, have successfully bred frogs with a transparent skin. The internal organs can be seen and studied through the skin of the frogs. This will allow researchers to gain insight into the frogs' organ, blood vessel, and egg development without the need for dissection, making it a cheap, and cost cutting research tool. Additionally, animal rights activists, who already for a long time have criticized the dissection of animals for research purposes and suggested computer models instead, will have less to complain about.

The frogs are intended primarily for use in cancer research studies, but could be used in other research studies involving chemicals and/or DNA changes. Because the frogs' skin transparency stays until adulthood, the influence of chemicals and treatment methods can be studied on the same frog for the entire developmental stage. Different genes can be studied by injecting into the frog a fluorescent protein attached to a part of DNA. This will allow the tracing of different genes inside the frog as the illuminating glow can be seen from the outside. The beginning of cancer development for example could be studied throughout the entire frogs life cycle, beginning with the tadpole stage. This could indicate, when and where the cancer starts.

According Professor Sumida at the Institute for Amphibian Biology, there have never been reports of transparent four-legged animals until now. Thus far, only some fish had been known to be transparent. The transparent frogs have been derived from the Japanese Brown Frogs, the Rena Japonica. The Japanese Brown frog is a very common type of frog in Japan. It has a recessive gene, which can cause some of the frogs to have a pale skin. The scientists utilized this to their advantage in the creation of the transparent frog. The process of breeding transparent frogs has yet to be perfected because only one-sixteenth of a bred frog generation turns out to be transparent. As of now, the transparency is not inherited by a viable next generation of frogs. The researchers primarily identify poor egg development as the culprit. The scientists have relied on artificial insemination for their research. However, genetic engineering might also be able to result in transparent frogs, which might be more viable. Once the process is perfected, the scientists will seek to patent the transparent amphibians.