European Xenopus Resource Centre
About the EXRC
The European Xenopus Resource Centre (EXRC) at the University of Portsmouth is a not-for-profit organisation which aims to collect and create resources for the Xenopus research community.
Situated at the University’s School of the Environment and Life Sciences, the EXRC is the world’s largest Xenopus research facility. We receive and breed genetically-altered frogs, embryos and sperm, and distribute resources to over 150 research laboratories worldwide.
The centre is funded by major funding organisations such as the Wellcome Trust, NERC and BBSRC, and our storage and office facilities occupy a 350 square metre site.
Why do we use Xenopus?
The Xenopus frog, also known as a 'clawed frog', has a remarkable genetic similarity to humans – and for that reason, they have become a vital part of our work studying cell and developmental biology and modelling human disease.
Two species of Xenopus are regularly used by biologists, Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis, and the genomes of both species display similarities to the human genome. That means scientists can model human diseases in the Xenopus, and gain important insights from their findings.
Orders
You can order different Xenopus resources from us – including more than 200 Xenopus transgenic and mutant lines, Xenopus specific antibodies, Xenopus in situ clones, Xenopus wild-type strains, DNA resources, egg extracts, oocytes and embryos and frozen sperm.
Deposits
You can deposit antibodies, plasmids or transgenic lines at the centre, which will then become available to the research community.
Explore the resources we collect
Explore more of our research
Research using animals
The welfare of animals in our research is important to us – learn how we're making sure science and animal welfare go hand-in-hand.
Biological Sciences
We're exploring how life on Earth has evolved over time, the huge ecological consequences of human activity, and the growing threat posed by antibiotic resistance.
Postgraduate research degrees in Biological Sciences
Explore our postgraduate research degrees in Biological Sciences.
