ROYAL OAK -- Emily Joyce is fond of frogs and hopes to save them from extinction.
Her seventh-grade class at Larson Middle School in Troy recently presented a $500 check to the Detroit Zoo's National Amphibian Conservation Center.
"I really want to help save the frogs because they make the world a better place," said Emily, 13, of Troy.
The Detroit Zoo is part of a worldwide effort to breed certain amphibians in captivity to ensure their future survival. To raise awareness and stave off amphibians' extinction, conservation groups have declared 2008 the Year of the Frog.
Conservationists across the globe are concerned that frogs could face extinction in the next 100 years, due to habitat loss, climate change, pollution and pesticides, and a deadly fungus spread by frogs used for science.
Scientists estimate that one-third to one-half of the world's 6,000 frog, salamander, toad and newt species are threatened, and 120 species have already disappeared. Scientists say frogs are important bellwether species -- meaning the poor health of their populations can signal wider environmental problems. But frogs have also shown promise in medical research: Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville tested 15 species, including the northern leopard frog and the bullfrog -- both Michigan natives -- for a substance in their skin that can block viruses.
"Frogs have some secrets in their skin, and they're like a little first-aid kit," said Louise Rollins-Smith, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. Rollins-Smith worked with a team of investigators studying these chemicals and reported in the Journal of Virology that compounds secreted by frog skin are potent blockers of HIV infection. The findings could lead to topical treatments for preventing its transmission.
Judy Armstrong-Hall, a Larson Middle School science teacher who co-sponsored the field trip to the zoo, educates students about the importance of conservation, and the small steps they can take to help.
Her message resonates with her student Mukund Mohan, 12.
"It's important to save the frogs because they eat insects that can carry malaria and other diseases that can destroy humans," he said.
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For additional information on this Frog News article, please contact:
Rachel Rommel
Source: The Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080614/METRO02/806140314/1409/METRO
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