Smart or Not?

[Hamsters82]

Sounds okay to me since they are not really harming the animal, but I...don't know...I have this other feeling that maybe it's not the right thing to do. You decide.

Website:

LINK HERE

[pinky]

Interesting! I can see avoiding dissection at the grade- or high-school level, or in intro to biology courses in college, but when it comes to upper-level college biology classes the training needs to be hands-on. Simulations only do so much for you.

As for the frogs, the breeding of these mutants seems to be ok. What you're probably uncomfortable with, Katie, is the genetic engineering part. But like it or not, genetic engineering is everywhere. If you ate corn chips today, you ate a genetically engineered crop. And the list goes on.

[Die Fledermaus]

>> The transparent frogs can also reproduce, with their offspring inheriting their parents' traits, but their grandchildren die shortly after birth.

"As they have two sets of recessive genes, something wrong must kick in and kill them," Sumida said.

While the researchers relied on artificial insemination, they said that genetic engineering could also produce transparent and even illuminating frogs.

Sumida said researchers could also inject into the transparent frogs an illuminating protein attached to a gene, which would light up the gene once it manifests -- for example, showing at what stage cancer starts. <<

So they are breeding genetically engineered frogs that will die soon after being born? Do they reach tadpole stage? I am not clear on this.

Whatever it is it seems better than dissection of normal frogs:

It's not that easy being green;
Having to spend each day the color of the leaves.
When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold...
or something much more colorful like that.

It's not easy being green.
It seems you blend in with so many other ord'nary things.
And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're
not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water
or stars in the sky.

But green's the color of Spring.
And green can be cool and friendly-like.
And green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain,
or tall like a tree.

When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why?
Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful!
And I think it's what I want to be.

[pinky]

zouave said:

>> The transparent frogs can also reproduce, with their offspring inheriting their parents' traits, but their grandchildren die shortly after birth.

"As they have two sets of recessive genes, something wrong must kick in and kill them," Sumida said.

While the researchers relied on artificial insemination, they said that genetic engineering could also produce transparent and even illuminating frogs.

Sumida said researchers could also inject into the transparent frogs an illuminating protein attached to a gene, which would light up the gene once it manifests -- for example, showing at what stage cancer starts. <<

So they are breeding genetically engineered frogs that will die soon after being born? Do they reach tadpole stage? I am not clear on this.

Whatever it is it seems better than dissection of normal frogs:

It's not that easy being green;
Having to spend each day the color of the leaves.
When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold...
or something much more colorful like that.

It's not easy being green.
It seems you blend in with so many other ord'nary things.
And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're
not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water
or stars in the sky.

But green's the color of Spring.
And green can be cool and friendly-like.
And green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain,
or tall like a tree.

When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why?
Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful!
And I think it's what I want to be.

I read it that if the transparent frogs that were initially created mated, the first generation would be similar, but that it was the second generation that died quickly. I didn't get the impression that the original transparent frogs had short lives.

And what is "birth" when you are a frog? You are not ever "born"!

[Die Fledermaus]

Understood! A little more information and detail might be useful in that article.

[pinky]

I wonder if that reporter was a science writer. . . . yes, the clarity left something to be desired.

[Hamsters82]

Yes, Robin you nailed it. The fact that something is genetically produced probably got me not liking it too much.

The article was on yahoo. They're always giving short little stories, maybe they have more to research on this; we're just getting the "low-down" on it.
(or is it load-down? Dang)

[pinky]

hamsters82 said:

we're just getting the "low-down" on it.
(or is it load-down? Dang)

You had it right the first time! Low-down!

[Hamsters82]

Cool, thanks!