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An amphibian with ambition: a new role for Xenopus in the 21st century

Caroline W Beck* and Jonathan MW Slack

Author Affiliations

Developmental Biology Programme, School of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK

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Genome Biology 2001, 2:reviews1029-reviews1029.5 doi:10.1186/gb-2001-2-10-reviews1029

Published: 19 September 2001

Abstract

Much of our knowledge about the mechanisms of vertebrate early development comes from studies using Xenopus laevis. The recent development of a remarkably efficient method for generating transgenic embryos is now allowing study of late development and organogenesis in Xenopus embryos. Possibilities are also emerging for genomic studies using the closely related diploid frog Xenopus tropicalis.