Amphibian embryos have been used for many years in developmental studies because of their rapid development and large size. In recent years embryos of the amphibians Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis have been used as models to study gene regulatory pathways involved in patterning the early vertebrate embryo. Experiments using Xenopus embryos continue to make important contributions to our understanding of cell signalling in vertebrate development.
Our labs make use of the powerful molecular techniques and excellent genomic resources available for Xenopus frogs to study gene function in early development.