Paul Jorgensen and frogs
Paul Jorgensen from Marc Kirchner's lab took me on a little tour of the frog lab.
Xenopus Laevis look inflated; like you stuck a straw in their, um, sides and blew in lots of air. They float around in their water tanks, hugging each other in futile mating grips or perhaps simple gestures of closeness. The males have textured skin on their forelegs called nuptial pads, with which they grab on to the female to squeeze out her eggs, all the while spreading their sperm on the copious ovarian output. To get the eggs manually, the researchers mimic this squeezing technique, milking the females for their unfertilized young. I wonder how they feel while doing this.
Up in the corner of the room is a tank fool of kermit-like albinos. Creepy and compelling, they seem to know more then they let on.
A personal connection: the species is originally from South Africa, like me (Port Elizabeth, 1968).
Xenopus Laevis look inflated; like you stuck a straw in their, um, sides and blew in lots of air. They float around in their water tanks, hugging each other in futile mating grips or perhaps simple gestures of closeness. The males have textured skin on their forelegs called nuptial pads, with which they grab on to the female to squeeze out her eggs, all the while spreading their sperm on the copious ovarian output. To get the eggs manually, the researchers mimic this squeezing technique, milking the females for their unfertilized young. I wonder how they feel while doing this.
Up in the corner of the room is a tank fool of kermit-like albinos. Creepy and compelling, they seem to know more then they let on.
A personal connection: the species is originally from South Africa, like me (Port Elizabeth, 1968).
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