When pregnancy tests were toads: the Xenopus test in the early NHS

Jesse Olszynko-Gryn

When pregnancy tests were toads: the Xenopus test in the early NHS

Jesse Olszynko-Gryn

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Abstract

As a young woman in the 1950s, Audrey Peattie injected urine into toads every day. She worked as a technician at an NHS pregnancy testing laboratory in Watford (17 miles from central London). The toads were Xenopus laevis, originating in South Africa, but the urine samples with which they were injected came from
women around Britain. NHS doctors posted their patients' urine samples to Audrey for the diagnosis of pregnancy. Pregnancy tests really were reliant on toads in the era of modern science.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2-3
Number of pages	2
Journal	Wellcome History
Volume	51
Publication status	Published - 16 Jun 2013

Keywords

xenopus laevis
xenopus tests
pregnancy testing
medical history

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Olszynko-Gryn-WH-2013-When-pregnancy-tests-were-toads-the-xenopus-testFinal published version, 146 KBLicence: CC BY 2.5

Cite this

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AB - As a young woman in the 1950s, Audrey Peattie injected urine into toads every day. She worked as a technician at an NHS pregnancy testing laboratory in Watford (17 miles from central London). The toads were Xenopus laevis, originating in South Africa, but the urine samples with which they were injected came fromwomen around Britain. NHS doctors posted their patients' urine samples to Audrey for the diagnosis of pregnancy. Pregnancy tests really were reliant on toads in the era of modern science.

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KW - medical history

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When pregnancy tests were toads: the Xenopus test in the early NHS

Abstract

Keywords

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