J.W. Mitchell High School in New Port Richey, Fla., became the first school in the world to dissect synthetic frogs last week.
Students dissected 100 “SynFrogs” that were created by SynDaver, a Tampa-based synthetic manufacturing company that specializes in human and animal models for medical simulation.
“The SynFrog mimics the visual and textural properties of a live female frog,” the company said in a statement.
“The frog features a synthetic skeleton, synthetic muscles along with highly realistic synthetic skin and organs, including a reproductive system with eggs.”
According to ABC News, each frog costs $150 and can be reused.
The synthetic frogs don’t use any of the potentially harmful chemicals used on typical preserved frogs such as formaldehyde. PETA says that nearly 3 million frogs are killed a year for dissection purposes, ABC News reports.
We’re proud to have found a partner in SynDaver to bring this revolutionary new educational tool to life, replacing the outdated use of once-living frogs forever,” PETA Vice President of International Laboratory Methods Shalin G. Gala said in the statement.
“We look forward to schools around the world adopting this state-of-the-art technology that will not only save millions of frogs, but is a far more effective and safer teaching tool.”
