First emerged the transparent frogs, now Japanese researchers have created goldfish whose brain and beating hearts can be seen through translucent scale and skin.
Producing such creatures allow students to study them without dissection, which has become increasingly controversial, particularly in educational institutes and among animal rights groups.
“You can see a live heart and other organs because the scales and skin have no pigments,” Yutaka Tamaru, an associate professor in the department of life science at Mie University, told UK Daily Mail.
“You don’t have to cut it open. You can see a tiny brain above the goldfish’s black eyes.”
The team of researchers at Mie University and Nagoya University in central Japan produced what they call the “ryukin” goldfish by isolating pale-skinned mutant hatchery goldfish and breeding them together.
“Having a pale color is a disadvantage for goldfish in an aquarium but it’s good to see how organs sit in a body three-dimensionally,” Tamaru said. “As this goldfish grows bigger, you can watch its whole life.”
The fish are expected to live up to about 20 years, grow to as long as 10 inches, and weigh more than 5 pounds, much bigger than other fish used in experiments, such as zebrafish and Japanese medaka, according to Tamaru.
In the meantime, another group of Japanese researchers, who announced in 2007 they had developed see-through frogs, said that they are planning to retail the special frogs, whose skin is transparent from the tadpole stage.
“We are making progress in their mass production. They are likely to be put on the market next year,” said Masayuki Sumida, professor at the Institute for Amphibian Biology of Hiroshima University.
Sumida said transparent tadpoles and adult frogs would be available in early 2010 in Japan for laboratories and schools and as pets.
Sumida’s team produced the creature from rare mutants of the Japanese brown frog (Rena japonica), whose backs are usually brown or yellowish-brown. Two kinds of recessive genes have been known to cause the frog to be pale.
While goldfish are easier to keep, frogs are higher forms of life and therefore preferable for experiments, Sumida said.
Producing such creatures allow students to study them without dissection, which has become increasingly controversial, particularly in educational institutes and among animal rights groups.
“You can see a live heart and other organs because the scales and skin have no pigments,” Yutaka Tamaru, an associate professor in the department of life science at Mie University, told UK Daily Mail.
“You don’t have to cut it open. You can see a tiny brain above the goldfish’s black eyes.”
The team of researchers at Mie University and Nagoya University in central Japan produced what they call the “ryukin” goldfish by isolating pale-skinned mutant hatchery goldfish and breeding them together.
“Having a pale color is a disadvantage for goldfish in an aquarium but it’s good to see how organs sit in a body three-dimensionally,” Tamaru said. “As this goldfish grows bigger, you can watch its whole life.”
The fish are expected to live up to about 20 years, grow to as long as 10 inches, and weigh more than 5 pounds, much bigger than other fish used in experiments, such as zebrafish and Japanese medaka, according to Tamaru.
In the meantime, another group of Japanese researchers, who announced in 2007 they had developed see-through frogs, said that they are planning to retail the special frogs, whose skin is transparent from the tadpole stage.
“We are making progress in their mass production. They are likely to be put on the market next year,” said Masayuki Sumida, professor at the Institute for Amphibian Biology of Hiroshima University.
Sumida said transparent tadpoles and adult frogs would be available in early 2010 in Japan for laboratories and schools and as pets.
Sumida’s team produced the creature from rare mutants of the Japanese brown frog (Rena japonica), whose backs are usually brown or yellowish-brown. Two kinds of recessive genes have been known to cause the frog to be pale.
While goldfish are easier to keep, frogs are higher forms of life and therefore preferable for experiments, Sumida said.
Friends Read Free