No guts, no goo as biology class dissects synthetic frogs
NEW PORT RICHEY – When biology students in the lab at J.W. Mitchell High School were at the ready with sharp instruments, preparing to take apart the innards of frogs, a lot of the usual reactions were missing.
Students were not squeamishly retracting their hands or holding their noses against the repulsive, throat-grabbing smell of formaldehyde.
That’s because the class was real — but the frogs were fake.
“This shows all the organs, it allows you to dissect an animal that is not toxic, that does not have any odor, plus it does reveal the proper real colors of textures of a regular frog,” Dr. David Danielson said in a Nov. 20 livestream video from the biology lab at the high school in New Port Richey.
Danielson is the vice president of veterinary technology at Tampa-based SynDaver, which develops synthetic human and animal models for education, surgical simulation and medical device testing.
“You’re going to place your frog in the dissecting pan, ventral side up, you’re going to use the scalpel to cut through the frog’s skin so you can see the muscle tissue,” the biology teacher told two gloves-wearing students during the demonstration.
According to SynDaver, J.W. Mitchell students have dissected nearly 100 synthetic frogs — so called “SynFrogs” — as part of the new technology that’s expected to catch on at schools around the country.
“We are excited to announce that Mitchell High School is the first in the world to use SynFrogs in science labs,” Pasco County Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning said in a statement.
“The Pasco County School District is committed to being a
and Urban Development to help the state rebuild stronger after Hurricane Irma.
In the Keys, that cash would be used to continue to elevate homes and county buildings, like the fire stations in Leighton and Sugar Loaf. The county is even eyeing it to relocate some buildings to spots less at risk from sea rise or hurricanes, like the public works building near the airport.
“We have a huge need to rebuild, and we need to build safer, stronger and more resilient,” Haag said.
The $150 million request is still lower than the two big climate change adaptation investments made by its northern neighbors in Miami-Dade. Miami is spending $192 million from the Miami Forever Bond and Miami Beach has committed more than $500 million toward pumps and pipes.
Money is expected to be a leading leader in innovation and opportunity for students,” he said.
The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals helped SynDaver fund its research to develop the SynFrog. PETA told The Associated Press that 3 million frogs are
topic next week in Key West during the 11th Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact when Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties meet to discuss sea-level rise adaptation.
Monroe is also separately asking the state for more cash to buy out homeowners left stranded after Hurricane Irma tore through, destroying or damaging 4,000 homes.
For many Keys residents, selling was the only option. The state recently offered a buyout program that paid pre-Irma prices to buy and demolish flood-prone and Irma-damaged houses. It even set aside $10 million just for the Keys.
It was so popular that 61 people signed up, but the state capped the funding to $5 million for each municipality, which means Monroe could apply to buy out only about a dozen homes. Since the application killed each use.
As the students continued their dissections, Danielson explained that the fake frogs they were cutting into had tissue made of water, fiber and salts that can be reused.
“Now you can see they are going to open the abdomen,” he said as the camera showed a close-up of the students gingerly using their knife.
“Try not to cut any organs,” their teacher chimed in. This SynFrog was a female, complete with fake baby frog eggs inside.
At the end of the 30-minute demonstration, all the parts of the dissected frog were splayed out in the dissection pan.
“I can’t even imagine taking a real frog down to the bone, that would be gross,” Danielson said.
The two students featured in the livestreamed dissection called the experience “fantastic” and were smiling, not wincing at the end.
After all, no one croaked. year for classroom
closed, 10 more people have been added to a waiting list.
“We have a huge unmet need,” Wetherington said.
The state agreed to reopen the program later next year, she said, which will hopefully give the Keys another shot to have more homes bought out. Two years after the storm, residents tell her those buyouts can’t happen soon enough.
“That’s a long time to wait,” she said. “Particularly if they’re still paying their mortgage in addition to rent elsewhere.”