Rabbit test
Rabbit test | |
---|---|
Purpose | Pregnancy test |
The rabbit test, or Friedman test, was an early pregnancy test developed in 1931 by Maurice Friedman and Maxwell Edward Lapham[1] at the University of Pennsylvania.
Test
The hormone
The rabbit test became a widely used bioassay (animal-based test) to test for pregnancy. The term "rabbit test" was first recorded in 1949, and was the origin of a common euphemism, "the rabbit died", for a positive pregnancy test.[4] The phrase was, in fact, based on a common misconception about the test. While many people assumed that the injected rabbit would die only if the woman was pregnant, in fact all rabbits used for the test died, as they had to be dissected in order to examine the ovaries.[5]
A later alternative to the rabbit test, known as the "Hogben test", used the African clawed frog, and yielded results without the need to cut the animal open.[6] Modern pregnancy tests continue to operate on the basis of testing for the presence of the hormone hCG in the blood or urine, but no longer require the use of a live animal.
In the media
- Rabbit Test, a 1978 comedy film about the world's first pregnant man.
References
- ^ "The assay of gonadotropic extracts in the post-partum rabbit". Journal of Endocrinology. 24 (5). 1 May 1939.
- ^ Morris Fishbein, M.D., ed. (1976). "Aschheim-Zondek Test". The New Illustrated Medical and Health Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 (Home Library ed.). New York, N.Y. 10016: H. S. Stuttman Co. p. 139.
{{cite encyclopedia}}
: CS1 maint: location (link) - PMID 18741327.
- ^ Wilton, Dave (28 February 2007). "rabbit test / the rabbit died". www.wordorigins.org. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
- ^ Howe, Marvine (10 March 1991). "Dr Maurice Friedman 87 Dies Created Rabbit Pregnancy Test". The New York Times.
- ^ Yong, Ed (4 May 2017). "How a Frog Became the First Mainstream Pregnancy Test". The Atlantic. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
Sources
- Wikidata Q115596844.
External links
- Aschheim-Zondek pregnancy reaction at Who Named It?
- The Rabbit Test at Snopes
- The demand for pregnancy testing: The Aschheim–Zondek reaction, diagnostic versatility, and laboratory services in 1930s Britain, pages 240–241
- An early U.S. pregnancy test involved sacrificing rabbits at The Washington Post