At last! The pungent scent of formaldehyde in class laboratories may soon be a history from the past with regards to the study of biology.

High schools start to introduce synthetic animals for students who study biology. They can now dissect these man-made animals instead of the real thing. It would be a lot easier and safer for students to study biology from now on.

The importance of biology should be transferred from one generation to another. Students will still use scalpels to dissect 99.99% realistic synthetic frogs for the first time at the J.W. Mitchell High School in New Port Richey, Florida. It happened last week according to Syndaver, the company that manufactures fake humans and animals for medical education and development of medical devices.

The frogs are made using synthetic tissue and appeared to have visual and textural details of a live female frog, based on the statement from SynDaver. They make it so real with synthetic skeletons with complete muscles and amazingly lifelike skin and organs. Not to mention the reproductive system with eggs.

So how much does it cost? Each frog costs $150 and can be reused multiple times.

There may be different topics and branches of biology, but dissecting frog is a basic requirement for every student to advance their knowledge of the field. The synthetic frogs would stop the tradition of using dead, chemically preserved frogs, which can be harmful to those who handle them, as said by SynDaver.

According to PETA or People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, frogs are usually soaked in chemicals to prepare for dissection. Their organs are difficult to differentiate because those are monochromatic. Estimates of three million frogs are killed every year for the purpose of dissection.

The company believes that the technology will be soon embraced by school science laboratories nationwide. 

Shalin Gala, the vice president of international laboratory methods of PETA, called the synthetic frogs as a revolutionary new educational tool.

Gala and the organization look forward to schools around the globe to consider adopting this incredible technology that can preserve the life of millions of frogs. But apart from that is to promote a safer teaching method for every school.

Why Do Students Dissect Frogs?

There are many surgeons who fall in love with the art of medicine and science when they first discovered that there is something more about a dissected frog in a middle or high school biology class. But, apart from inspiring the future generation of medical professionals, what is the purpose of dissection? And more importantly, why is everyone always dissecting or required operating those poor green amphibians?

There are many reasons that students in biology classes need to perform dissections. They have a lot to understand and discover beyond the body of the subject. In dissecting an animal, students see, touch, and discover the various organs in the body. Seeing these organs will make them understand how they work. It allows students to understand how these systems are connected within many other animals, including themselves.

ALSO READ: Marine Biology: University Herald