Mastering New Techniques for Working with Frogs

My former graduate student, now a well-known Swiss researcher of frogs, Gleb, visited Kharkiv for a short while. He was showing our group new techniques for working with embryos that he had mastered recently. We gathered at the university on a day off; I took a few photos... All members of the group gathered, except for two representatives of the older generation: M.K. (she stays with the children when I go somewhere) and E.U. (she is approaching two important events in her life: her first dissertation defence and her first childbirth) [IMG_1] Gleb demonstrates the collection of unfertilised eggs from a female after hormonal stimulation [IMG_2] [IMG_3] [IMG_4] Then A.B. tries to practise this technique [IMG_5] [IMG_6] O.B., as always (almost), is busy with databases [IMG_7] For fertilising eggs, urinal sperm can be used. Now, for training purposes, we obtain sperm in a more reliable way: by extracting it from the testis [IMG_8] I post the photo and try to remember: what are they so happy about? [IMG_9] A.M. crushes the testes between microscope slides [IMG_10] [IMG_11] We head upstairs to the mycologists, who kindly left us the keys to the room with the UV lamp. Meanwhile, some kind of mass event connected with Border Guard Day is taking place on the square in front of the university [IMG_12] They complement each other nicely... [IMG_13] By using UV-killed sperm for artificial fertilisation, gynogenetic embryos can be obtained; by using killed (genetically) eggs — androgenetic embryos. Such offspring usually suffer from haploid syndrome (serious developmental disorders) and die at early larval stages. Nevertheless, these embryos are already suitable for studies that allow one to determine which genomes the parental individuals were passing on through eggs and sperm [IMG_14] [IMG_15] [IMG_16] Irradiating the sperm [IMG_17] We wait the required time... [IMG_18] [IMG_19] [IMG_20] Time's up, switch it off! [IMG_21] Now that we have killed (and control, normal) sperm, we can collect eggs. The females need to be photographed so they can be identified later [IMG_22] Gleb fills in the laboratory journal; the girls are busy; the men wait majestically, unwilling to fuss around needlessly [IMG_23] [IMG_24] [IMG_25] [IMG_26] [IMG_27] Photographing the hybrid female against a piece of paper with the code [IMG_28] [IMG_29] O.B. and A.M. collect the eggs [IMG_30] [IMG_31] [IMG_32] [IMG_33] Unfertilised eggs in Petri dishes [IMG_34] Sperm is poured from one dish with eggs into another [IMG_35] Let's see what we manage to achieve with this technique... P.S. Both gynogenetic (slightly better) and androgenetic (slightly worse) embryos were obtained. The technique works!