World-leading Xenopus resource to open in April

26 February 2007

The Wellcome Trust today announced that a new resource centre for developmental and cell biologists - the European Xenopus Resource Centre - is due to open in April. The Centre, the world's largest, will open with a conference aimed at leading Xenopus researchers from across the UK and Europe.

Xenopus, the clawed frog, is a major model organism for studying how vertebrates develop and how cells replicate themselves. Xenopus frogs are valuable to the scientific community, providing tools that will lead to advances in the understanding of the root causes of many diseases, including cancer. Recent technical advances in Xenopus science allow researchers to breed genetically altered frogs, which can be used as powerful tools to work out the mechanisms of how organisms develop and how cells divide.

The University of Portsmouth has received £1.5 million from the Wellcome Trust, the world's second largest medical research charity, to establish the Centre. The funding will allow the researchers to breed and supply both genetically altered and wild-type animals for users in the UK and Europe. Developmental biologists will be able to obtain Xenopus lines more efficiently, ensuring that the number of embryos stored and Xenopus bred is kept to a minimum.

"At the moment, there is a real need for a central repository for Xenopus frogs, a crucial tool for developmental biologists," explains Dr Matt Guille, who will head the Centre. "There is currently no such resource centre in either Europe or the US, which means that it can be difficult for researchers to obtain embryo lines. The new Centre will ensure their safety and their efficient distribution to other research laboratories.

"The Centre will allow embryo lines for Xenopus frogs to be stored in one place, making distribution more efficient and limiting the number of lines, and therefore the number of frogs, created."

Limiting the number of embryos stored and keeping the number of Xenopus bred to a minimum will ensure that the Centre adheres to the principle of the 3Rs - reduction, refinement and replacement of animals in scientific and medical research.

"The Xenopus frog is extremely important to the cell and developmental biology community," says Dr Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust. "Studies of Xenopus have been important in increasing our understanding of developmental processes important to human health and disease. It is an important step forwards to have a common resource centre, working to the highest standards to breed and distribute Xenopus to the community.

"Matt Guille and his team at the University of Portsmouth are excellent developmental biologists, and bring the scientific vision to ensure the centre fulfils the needs of the research community."

Dr David Hughes, Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University, said the University was very pleased to have been chosen to host the Centre, which will make a major contribution to the supply of secure genetic lines for a wide range of developmental biologists.

To launch the Centre, the University of Portsmouth will host the annual UK Xenopus conference in 2007.

Contact

Media Officer
Wellcome Trust
T +44 (0)20 7611 7329
E c.brierley@wellcome.ac.uk

Notes for editors

1. The Wellcome Trust is the largest independent charity in the UK and the second largest medical research charity in the world. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending around £500 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing.

2. The University of Portsmouth is a leading modern university with an international reputation for teaching and research. It teaches some 20 000 students and strong research areas include biomedical and bio-molecular sciences, cosmology, European studies and Slavonic studies.