Techcrunch.com Natasha
Lomas , Monday, September 24th, 2012
PETA, People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals, is offering to sponsor software that lets
students poke around the innards of frogs — without actually, you know, poking
around the innards of frogs. The offer is being made to schools and colleges in
India that agree to give students a choice of cutting into real or virtual frog
flesh — or indeed replacing traditional dissection with other “humane”
alternatives.
The software in question
— Frog Dissection — is made by Emantras, the company PETA is tying up
with for the Indian initiative, and is priced at between $2.99 and $4.99 in the
U.S. but will be offered free to classrooms in India that agree to offer
non-animal dissection alternatives.
PETA says it’s targeting India
for the free software as a follow up to recommendations by the
country’sUniversity Grants Commission (UGC) that animal dissection and
experimentation should be phased out of labs over the long term. The UGC also
recommends software alternatives to dissection should be developed.
“Countless frogs and other
animals are killed for dissection, even though non-animal methods for teaching
biology are far superior,” noted PETA India Science Policy Adviser,
Dr Chaitanya Koduri, in a statement. “PETA India is eager to help
universities and schools take the lead in teaching biology using humane, modern
methods.”
Emantras’ software is
available for PCs, Macs, iPads and interactive whiteboards. Key features are
said to include “vivid” 3D imaging”, step-by-step dissection instructions,
detailed info on frogs’ organs and “accurate simulation of the wet lab
dissection procedure”.
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