1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,079 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Frying and I'm Tracy d Wilson. So Tracy. 4 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:19,239 Speaker 1: This weekend, I was hanging out in another city with 5 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:23,319 Speaker 1: some friends. UM, and I made a joke referencing the 6 00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: movie The Rabbit Test. Do you know that movie? I 7 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: know of it, but I don't think I've ever seen it. 8 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: I will tell you a funny story after I tell 9 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: you what the movie is about, because it evidences the 10 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:37,839 Speaker 1: mind of a child and how they process information. So 11 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: in that movie, which is a comedy directed by the 12 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: late great Joan Rivers, Billy Crystal stars as a man 13 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:46,560 Speaker 1: who gets pregnant and the title is a joke based 14 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: on the now outdated practice of using rabbits as part 15 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: of a medical test to determine if a woman was pregnant. Now, 16 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:54,959 Speaker 1: this movie came out, like I said, in seventy eight. 17 00:00:55,040 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: So I was seven when it huh out, And I remember, Um, 18 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: I had said something like I don't know if I 19 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: had seen a poster or an ad or something, and 20 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:06,320 Speaker 1: I was like rabbits, Like I was excited to see 21 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: this movie and my siblings, who are all a good 22 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:11,040 Speaker 1: bit older than me. We're like, oh, no, that movie 23 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: is not for you, because of course it was about 24 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 1: sex and reproduction. But my perception as a seven year 25 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: old was that it must be a terrifying horror movies. 26 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:22,920 Speaker 1: I didn't know until I was in my twenties and 27 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,679 Speaker 1: it was a comedy. I was like, no, it's like 28 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: a scary sci fi thriller, is what I made up 29 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: in my head. Well, and and based on everything I 30 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: know of you, Holly, I was genuinely astonished when I 31 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,480 Speaker 1: got this email from you with this outline last night, 32 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: because it contains a number of things that are just 33 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: not your bag, right, like talking about you know, pregnancy 34 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: and um um, and I'm going to get to the 35 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: animal testing things and we have a we have our 36 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: our our opt out discussion in a moment. But my 37 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: point in all of this is that I had had 38 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: mentioned this movie to friends, and those friends are all 39 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: a bit younger than my husband and I are, and 40 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: they had never heard of the movie, and they had 41 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:10,079 Speaker 1: never heard of the use of rabbits in pregnancy testing. 42 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: And I was trying to explain this to them with 43 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: my not scientific knowledge and their eyes got really big 44 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: and they seemed completely incredulous and thought maybe I was 45 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 1: pulling one over on them. So, um, I was like, well, 46 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 1: I know what I want to work on next, and 47 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: it's this Because I thought everybody knew, they don't. Uh. 48 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: If you also listen to the podcast saw Bones and 49 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,360 Speaker 1: you should, they indicated an episode on the history of 50 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: pregnancy testing, and it mentions the rabbit test very briefly, 51 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,360 Speaker 1: but it's really more of a broad overview of how 52 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: pregnancy testing has evolved over the centuries, and we are 53 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: instead going to look really closely at how this particular 54 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: test and one very like it both were developed in 55 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: the twentieth century. So you may have surmised already, but 56 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:56,639 Speaker 1: heads up, this episode is going to involve a significant 57 00:02:56,639 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: amount of discussion of animals being used in medical testing, 58 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,359 Speaker 1: with an outcome of mortality for the animal in most cases. Um, 59 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: So if that is something that you would rather not 60 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: hear about or rather not perhaps share with younger history buffs, 61 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,080 Speaker 1: you can tap right out of this one. Yeah. Yeah, 62 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:18,119 Speaker 1: I still have a whole layer of surprise of like, well, 63 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: I love science, I know you do. It just seems 64 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:22,919 Speaker 1: like you know you're talking about the movie coming across 65 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: as a terrifying horror movie. I feel like the subject 66 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,239 Speaker 1: is like a holly terrifying horror movie. Yeah. No, I 67 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:34,079 Speaker 1: mean it's not me. It's not me having a child, 68 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 1: and it doesn't really talk about like any of the 69 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 1: actual pregnancy, just the pathology and medical testing. So I 70 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,080 Speaker 1: think that's why it's a little easier for me to 71 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:48,119 Speaker 1: dig in on. And somehow I don't know why I 72 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 1: seem to be able to handle this particular discussion of 73 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: animal testing. Yeah, we'll see. I could start crying halfway through. 74 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: We'll see how it goes. It's always different typing it 75 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: than it is saying it. But definitely one of those 76 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: subjects that is always on, like the right of first 77 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,840 Speaker 1: refusal list what I'm thinking of things to talk about. So, 78 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: uh today, Home pregnancy tests they're inexpensive, very common. Usually 79 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:15,800 Speaker 1: the first way people find out if they are pregnant 80 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 1: just go to the store and pick one up. But 81 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: there have been plenty of folk medicine tests that people 82 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: could try on their own over the years before they 83 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: were actual working pregnancy tests and for a scientific confirmation 84 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: of that pregnancy. Up until the seventies, you pretty much 85 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,160 Speaker 1: had to go to the doctor. You couldn't just pick 86 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: up a home test. The use of urine to test 87 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: for pregnancy was nothing new at all. It had been 88 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: part of how people tested for pregnancy for centuries. Yeah, 89 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:47,600 Speaker 1: people had intuited that there was something going on with 90 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: urine where uh it was a way to determine if 91 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:54,040 Speaker 1: someone was in fact carrying a child, But they were 92 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: not necessarily rooted in science. Always they involved things like, 93 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:02,599 Speaker 1: you know, peeing on grain and see if it turned color. 94 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 1: But a really major development took place in nineteen o 95 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: two when E. H. Starling, who was a physician, and W. M. Bayliss, 96 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: who was a physiologist, discovered secreton. And secreton is a 97 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: polypeptide that is made up of more than two dozen 98 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: amino acids. But what is really important is that it 99 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 1: was the first hormone ever discovered. Secreton is a digestive hormone. 100 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 1: It has nothing to do specifically with reproduction and Starling 101 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,160 Speaker 1: didn't start using the word hormone for several years. He 102 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: first introduced it into medical nomenclature and a lecture that 103 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 1: he gave at London's Royal College of Physicians in nineteen 104 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: o five titled on the Chemical Correlation of the Functions 105 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: of the Body, and in that lecture, Starling defined hormones 106 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: as quote the chemical messengers which, speeding from cell to 107 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:57,280 Speaker 1: sell along the bloodstream, may coordinate the activities and growth 108 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: of different parts of the body. And from the point 109 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: where he established the term, all manner of discovery and 110 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 1: research in the field of hormones began. Yeah, and that's 111 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: still the pretty basic definition that you learn of what 112 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 1: a hormone is in school. Yeah, at a very basic level. 113 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: So from the nineteen teens, a number of researchers were 114 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:22,039 Speaker 1: examining the link between hormones and pregnancy. Through the introduction 115 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,599 Speaker 1: of extracts of human placenta into other animals in a 116 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: variety of laboratory experience, it became clear that there were 117 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: hormones in the mix that were related to reproduction. All 118 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 1: of this sounds so obvious now, but at the time, 119 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 1: I know, I think about like the shorthand of how 120 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 1: people just attribute like people's urge to uh, you know, 121 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: have romantic involvement with one another, they'll just go hormones. 122 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: But like at the time, this was like mind blowing 123 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,640 Speaker 1: concept that that was what was driving your romantic interest. Yeah, 124 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 1: And the hormone that was eventually identified in all of 125 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: this was human choreonic gonadotropin, which is more commonly known 126 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:04,359 Speaker 1: as hCG, and that was the hormone that unlocked the 127 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,360 Speaker 1: door to pregnancy testing. So just for a little bit 128 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:10,920 Speaker 1: of clarity, but not too much, because I'm not going 129 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: to give you the hard science because I will miss 130 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: something up. But hCG is actually four independent molecules which 131 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: each have their own functions in which are produced by 132 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: separate cells. hCG is not only used as an indicator 133 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 1: of pregnancy. Certain cancers can also be detected based on 134 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: tests which analyze hc G content in a person's bloodstream. 135 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: And hCG is present in women even when they are 136 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: not pregnant, although it's a pretty small amount. They don't 137 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: produce significant amounts unless they are crying a child. But 138 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:44,120 Speaker 1: pregnancy tests are designed to measure the levels of hCG 139 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: and once that passes a certain threshold, it is a 140 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: reliable indicator of pregnancy. In six two German doctors Selma 141 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: Asheim and Bernhard Zondeck developed a pregnancy test that used mice. 142 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: The preparation was described in a nine team thirty article 143 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: in the journal California and Western Medicine by authors Herbert M. Evans, 144 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: m d. And Miriam E. Simpson, m D. As follows 145 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: the morning urine is sent into the laboratory and clean bottles. 146 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,679 Speaker 1: They meaning Ashaim and Zondeck recommend the addition of one 147 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: drop of tri cresal per twenty five cubic centimeters of 148 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:24,720 Speaker 1: urine if it is necessary for the sample to be 149 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: sent by mail. A group of five mice each wing 150 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 1: six to eight grahams is used to test each urine specimen. 151 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 1: So the mortality rate for mice just to test a 152 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 1: single person sample was quite high at that point, but 153 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:42,119 Speaker 1: per Evans and Simpson, this test was far more reliable 154 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:45,200 Speaker 1: than any other options, and it produced results in as 155 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:48,840 Speaker 1: few as four days. It worked because the urine sample, 156 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: which was injected into very young mice in a specified regiment. 157 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: It was multiple injections over the course of several days 158 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: would catalyze sexual maturation in the mice if the urine 159 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: was from a pregnant woman. On the fifth day, between 160 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 1: ninety six hundred hours after the start of the injection process, 161 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: the mice were killed and then the crop seed based 162 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:12,240 Speaker 1: on an examination of the mice's ovaries, doctor could determine 163 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: if the woman who had given the urine sample was pregnant. 164 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:18,880 Speaker 1: If the ovaries remained mostly small and smooth, the test 165 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 1: was negative, but if there was enlargement and maturation beyond 166 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:25,880 Speaker 1: the normal development, it was positive. Ash I'man's on Deck 167 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:29,200 Speaker 1: also developed a variation on this test for cases where 168 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 1: someone might more urgently need to know if they were pregnant. 169 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: Although it came at a cost of more mice, They 170 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: used more mice in the experiment and then that they 171 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: dissected them earlier in the range past when they had 172 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:46,080 Speaker 1: begun the testing. That larger sample set made up for 173 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: the shorter testing period. We are about to talk about 174 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:51,600 Speaker 1: a little variation on the method that they developed, but 175 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:53,840 Speaker 1: first we'll pause and have a quick word from one 176 00:09:53,880 --> 00:10:04,960 Speaker 1: of the sponsors that keeps the show going. Other doctors 177 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 1: took the work of the German team and the Asheim 178 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: Zondeck test, which was often abbreviated to just called be 179 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:13,440 Speaker 1: called the AZ test, and they made slight tweaks to 180 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,800 Speaker 1: the method for what worked best for their laboratory situation 181 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 1: and their staff at the University of California at Berkeley 182 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: in the late nineteen twenties, researchers opted to use six 183 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 1: rats for the procedure rather than mice, and they stored 184 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: the urine samples at freezing temperature before injection. They of 185 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: course heated it back up so that the animals were 186 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:36,920 Speaker 1: not going to shock after the injection. Using rats was 187 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:40,199 Speaker 1: actually more cost intensive than mice, but you see, Berkeley 188 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:43,160 Speaker 1: had already had an established rat colony for use in 189 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: their laps. The primary benefit and using rats instead of 190 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:49,200 Speaker 1: mice was the fact that all of the rats usually 191 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:53,200 Speaker 1: survived the test at least the injection and sort of 192 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:56,320 Speaker 1: incubation portion of the test, but in mouse based testing, 193 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:59,440 Speaker 1: fift of the rodents died before they reached that day 194 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,680 Speaker 1: five exam a nation stage, and both tests the error 195 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 1: rate was quite small, between one and two percent, and 196 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:09,839 Speaker 1: according to data collected in Ashiman Zondex lab, this test 197 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:14,000 Speaker 1: was also quite good at early detection. There were recorded 198 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:17,679 Speaker 1: instances of positive results before any other clinical signs of 199 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,839 Speaker 1: pregnancy were present, for example, just three to four days 200 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 1: after the patient had missed a menstrual period. Results were 201 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: most reliable though in cases of normal pregnancy, so in 202 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:32,199 Speaker 1: instances of more problematic situations like a tubal pregnancy. The 203 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:36,600 Speaker 1: results were, according to the German doctor's data, slightly less accurate. 204 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:39,360 Speaker 1: This was at a time in medical science when diagnostic 205 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:42,840 Speaker 1: tests weren't always common practice in Western medicine, and they 206 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:46,920 Speaker 1: certainly weren't common specifically for women. Additionally, a lot of 207 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 1: doctors felt as though it was extraneous. They trusted their 208 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 1: experience and diagnostic abilities to determine if someone was pregnant 209 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:57,319 Speaker 1: or not. There was concerned that testing labs removed for 210 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 1: the relationship and the trust between the doctor and the patient. Yeah, 211 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:05,560 Speaker 1: this was particularly a problem UM in Great Britain. I 212 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 1: was reading one article that UM mentioned that this one 213 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:12,200 Speaker 1: particular lab in Edinburgh had started taking mail in samples 214 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:14,840 Speaker 1: and people were like, but they're bypassing their doctors just 215 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:19,079 Speaker 1: to do a direct thing. Um. There were a lot 216 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:20,720 Speaker 1: of a lot of concerns. And this is at a 217 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 1: point where there was insurance in Great Britain, but it 218 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:27,240 Speaker 1: didn't always cover women, and it certainly didn't cover them 219 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 1: just wanting to find out if they were pregnant. That 220 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:32,720 Speaker 1: was usually only for like an emergency, which we'll talk about. Additionally, 221 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: most of the time most women suspected they were pregnant 222 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 1: already and they went to their doctor just to confirm 223 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:42,319 Speaker 1: what they already thought. And family practitioners used this as 224 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: evidence that there was not a real need for such 225 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:48,199 Speaker 1: tests to become mainstream. In most cases, unless there was 226 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:51,200 Speaker 1: an urgent medical dean to know if a woman was pregnant. 227 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 1: Health organizations and insurance companies where they existed, because insurance 228 00:12:55,880 --> 00:13:00,199 Speaker 1: didn't really start until the late nineteen twenties, were unlikely 229 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,559 Speaker 1: to approve coverage for the cost of the test. Testing 230 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 1: samples sent through the mail was particularly looked down upon 231 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: us we just sort of alluded to. It was referred 232 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 1: to as postal pathology. That's a a criticism that still 233 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 1: exists today with all the various things that you can 234 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 1: test at home and kind of mail away. But this 235 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:22,040 Speaker 1: test was recognized for its efficacy and it became more 236 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: and more commonly administered. Both Selmer Asheim and Bernard Zondeck 237 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:29,079 Speaker 1: were Jewish, and both of them chose to leave Germany. 238 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: I say chose, but they really had to for their 239 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 1: lives in nineteen thirty three as the Nazi Party came 240 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 1: into power, and they left their lab behind in the process. 241 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: In thirty one, the landscape for pregnancy testing shifted when 242 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: a similar test to the A Z test was introduced 243 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:48,320 Speaker 1: at the University of Pennsylvania by Maurice Harold Friedman and 244 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: Maxwell Edward Lapham. Freedman, who was born on October three 245 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 1: and Gary, Indiana, had been with the University of Pennsylvania 246 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,959 Speaker 1: as a faculty member since he had earned his bachelor's 247 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 1: degree PhD and m d at the University of Chicago 248 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:06,840 Speaker 1: starting in nineteen nine, so he went into his undergrad 249 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: at just sixteen, so he was still quite young when 250 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:13,079 Speaker 1: he developed the rabbit test, and Maxwell E. Lapham, who 251 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 1: was born in newfe New York, was just three years 252 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: older than his collaborator, and he was working at the 253 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:21,720 Speaker 1: university hospital at the time. And an article titled a 254 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:26,160 Speaker 1: Simple Rapid Procedure for the Laboratory Diagnosis of Early Pregnancies 255 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:30,359 Speaker 1: in the March issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics 256 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: and Gynecology, Friedman and Lapham wrote about their choice to 257 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 1: move away from mice for their test, starting with a 258 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: reference to the as test, It said quote Yet this 259 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: test admirable, though it is has some distinct disadvantages, one 260 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 1: of which may make it impractical in a laboratory or 261 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: hospital not closely affiliated with some university or institute. To 262 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:55,040 Speaker 1: perform the zondek Asheim test, it's essential to be in 263 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: in a position to command a ready supply of amateur 264 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: mice weighing from sixt grahams. If a large breeding colony 265 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:05,480 Speaker 1: of mice is not easily available, some difficulty might be 266 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,880 Speaker 1: encountered in procuring suitable animals at a time as test 267 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:13,400 Speaker 1: as desired. Moreover, even if one had at hand enough 268 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: of the immature mice to answer the calculated requirements for 269 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 1: a given week, and for some reason or other the 270 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:23,560 Speaker 1: number of samples submitted fell below expectations, the unused animals 271 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 1: would soon mature beyond their usefulness, so that another group 272 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 1: of the immature animals would have to be gotten. Freedman 273 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 1: and Lapham's test used rabbits instead of mice, and just 274 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: as rats were more of a burden to support than mice, 275 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: rabbits took a lot more effort and resources to keep 276 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:42,760 Speaker 1: in a lab setting. But there were some very significant 277 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:46,440 Speaker 1: benefits to rabbits over mice. For one, it required only 278 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 1: one to two specimens rather than six. Aside from just 279 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 1: the number of creatures harmed. This also just meant one 280 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 1: or two necropsies rather than half a dozen, and unlike mice, 281 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: rabbits only ovulate after mating. That meant they didn't need 282 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: to use only very young animals. With mice, the very 283 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:07,680 Speaker 1: young specimens were used to avoid any confusion that might 284 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 1: arise should Amounse just be developing a natural estrous cycle, 285 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 1: which would look pretty similar to a positive result in 286 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 1: the testing. As long as they knew the rabbit's history 287 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 1: and it had been isolated because exposure to other female 288 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 1: rabbits could cause estrus, it could stay viable as a 289 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 1: test subject until it was needed, instead of aging out 290 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: of usefulness for testing purposes. But even if a rabbit 291 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:34,680 Speaker 1: had not been fully isolated, it could still potentially be 292 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:38,920 Speaker 1: used per Friedman and Lapham quote. In case one has 293 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:42,240 Speaker 1: not had opportunity to isolate the rabbits for the desired period, 294 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: and it is found necessary to perform a test, it 295 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,200 Speaker 1: is safe to use a rabbit that has been isolated 296 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: in the laboratory for only eight or ten days, even 297 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 1: if the rabbit in question had had coitus just before 298 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: it was obtained. The corporal lutilla of pregnancy or pseudo 299 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 1: pregnancy would then be least eight or ten days old 300 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,479 Speaker 1: and could not be confused with the fresh corporate lutia 301 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:09,560 Speaker 1: or corporal hemorrhagica produced by the injections of an active urine. Briefly, 302 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,399 Speaker 1: then one may safely use all rabbits that are not 303 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 1: demonstrably pregnant at the end of three weeks of isolation. 304 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:19,359 Speaker 1: Pathologists also found the rabbits easier to handle, and it 305 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:23,120 Speaker 1: was easier to administer injections into the veins of their ears. 306 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:26,000 Speaker 1: They could perform the necropsy without the need for a 307 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 1: microscope or a magnifying glass because the results were observable 308 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:33,000 Speaker 1: to the naked eye rather than needing to be magnified. Yeah, 309 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:34,560 Speaker 1: that was not the case with mice or you had 310 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 1: to look very closely at their tiny, tiny organs. You 311 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:40,399 Speaker 1: could literally just do the necropcy and go yep, this 312 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:44,159 Speaker 1: one is positive. But the big, big difference was that 313 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:46,880 Speaker 1: a rabbit test could be turned around in forty eight 314 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:50,560 Speaker 1: hours rather than five days. While Lapham and Friedman tried 315 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:53,360 Speaker 1: a similar method of earlier necropsy that had been used 316 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 1: in mice, as you remember, they had just up the 317 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:59,400 Speaker 1: number of mice used and then did a test doing 318 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 1: sort of pattern recognition at a shorter interval. They actually 319 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,920 Speaker 1: found the results a lot less reliable when they try 320 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:08,760 Speaker 1: a similar method in rabbits. We're about to get into 321 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:11,879 Speaker 1: the numbers involved in the research that Freedman and Lapham 322 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,440 Speaker 1: used to test their rabbit method, but first we will 323 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:25,080 Speaker 1: take a quick sponsor break. To test their approach, the 324 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 1: University of Pennsylvania team used a hundred and eleven samples. 325 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,679 Speaker 1: Three samples were deemed too toxic to use in the test, 326 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:36,200 Speaker 1: and the specific nature of the toxicity is not described 327 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,920 Speaker 1: in the Freedman and lap of paper, but a lab 328 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: in Edinburgh, Scotland, which did quite a lot of pregnancy 329 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: testing in the nineteen thirties, described sometimes getting samples of 330 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:49,200 Speaker 1: urine which were green because the women who had given 331 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:51,680 Speaker 1: them had used some sort of chemical means to try 332 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:55,080 Speaker 1: to avoid pregnancy. Those samples were lethal to mice, which 333 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:57,600 Speaker 1: was the testing animal that the Edinburgh lab used, so 334 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 1: the test would not work. Freedman and Lapa mentioned as 335 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:04,040 Speaker 1: a desire to find a way to handle so called 336 00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:07,560 Speaker 1: toxic samples. Writing quote zon Deck reports that about six 337 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:10,760 Speaker 1: percent of the samples submitted were too toxic. To be handled, 338 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,919 Speaker 1: and to obviate this difficulty, he has devised a method 339 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 1: by which these toxic urines may be made innocuous. Since 340 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 1: the appearance of this paper, we have not encountered a 341 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:23,920 Speaker 1: sample with which to test this procedure, so that left 342 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:27,560 Speaker 1: a hundred and eight samples for the study, and twenty 343 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:29,520 Speaker 1: five of those samples were from women who were in 344 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,480 Speaker 1: their last months of gestation, and all of their samples, 345 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:36,600 Speaker 1: as expected, yielded positive test results. Thirty two of the 346 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:38,840 Speaker 1: samples were from women who had gone to the clinic 347 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: at the university hospital to determine if they were pregnant. 348 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:45,399 Speaker 1: Twenty five of them tested positive for pregnancy, and the 349 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: research team was able to track twenty two of those 350 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:50,960 Speaker 1: women to further verify that they had been pregnant, although 351 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,119 Speaker 1: not all of them carried those pregnancies to full term. 352 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:57,400 Speaker 1: The remaining three did not remain in contact with the study. 353 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,760 Speaker 1: There were fifty one negative test results from this viable 354 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,080 Speaker 1: group of a hundred eight samples. Two of those samples 355 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:07,800 Speaker 1: were from men and were from women in the hospital 356 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:10,199 Speaker 1: who were known to have been not pregnant at the 357 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,800 Speaker 1: time of testing, including several with conditions that might clinically 358 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,120 Speaker 1: present as looking pregnant without a test, like they had 359 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 1: nausea or their abdomens were swollen, something like that. Yes, 360 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 1: so they wanted to include people that they absolutely knew 361 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:27,120 Speaker 1: were not pregnant to prove that the tests was accurate 362 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:30,320 Speaker 1: in both positive and negative and also people who might 363 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:33,879 Speaker 1: be told by a doctor who was just examining them 364 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:36,439 Speaker 1: that they were probably pregnant but were in fact not. 365 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:39,680 Speaker 1: Twenty four of the negative test results had been for 366 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:42,080 Speaker 1: women who had visited the clinic to determine if they 367 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:45,280 Speaker 1: were pregnant, and the study remained in contact with eighteen 368 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:48,360 Speaker 1: of those patients and they were verified as non pregnant. 369 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: That left ninety two cases for which the doctors felt 370 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 1: they had adequate data for the inclusion in the study 371 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:57,440 Speaker 1: statistical analysis, and that left them with an error rate 372 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:01,160 Speaker 1: of zero. But in their paper Forman and Lapham wrote, 373 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:03,679 Speaker 1: it is likely that if we had more material, we 374 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:07,440 Speaker 1: might have encountered an error or two. Yeah, they were 375 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:09,600 Speaker 1: not asserting that it was a percent effect of all 376 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:12,479 Speaker 1: the time, um, but of the ninety two that had 377 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 1: been that it had been paired down to after they 378 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,159 Speaker 1: uh had to leave out the toxic urine samples and 379 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 1: the ones that they lost track of it was accurate 380 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:26,239 Speaker 1: in that data. The Freedman Lapham test was adopted more 381 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: readily than its predecessor, the mouse version, in part because 382 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:32,120 Speaker 1: the asy test had blazed a trail already, so people 383 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,280 Speaker 1: already had this idea that this test was worthwhile and 384 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: was accurate, and also for all of the reasons that 385 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 1: were laid out in the paper published by Freedman and Lapham. 386 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,159 Speaker 1: For example, hospitals found it much easier to set up 387 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:49,000 Speaker 1: a lab for a smaller number of rabbits than huge 388 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:51,560 Speaker 1: numbers of mice, which they would have to continually be 389 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:55,160 Speaker 1: breeding to get workable um animals that they could use 390 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:58,359 Speaker 1: in testing, even though it was still more expensive to 391 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:02,040 Speaker 1: house a rabbit, and the reliability and the speedier assessment 392 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:05,399 Speaker 1: during necropsy made this test much more appealing as well. 393 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:08,199 Speaker 1: And as a bit of myth busting, you may have 394 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 1: heard the joke the rabbit died as a shorthand way 395 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:13,200 Speaker 1: to say that somebody is pregnant, and this has been 396 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:18,000 Speaker 1: a long a longstanding misconception connected to this test. I 397 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 1: think both Holly and I at some point have probably 398 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:23,439 Speaker 1: said that I know I have repeated that myth, So 399 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: apologies to anyone that heard that from my lips. You 400 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 1: got misinformation. Yeah, the positive test result was not indicated 401 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:34,400 Speaker 1: by the rabbit dying. The rabbits had to be euthanized 402 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:38,400 Speaker 1: and necrop seed. The positive test result was definitely not 403 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 1: the cause of the death. Correct. And while the rabbit 404 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,679 Speaker 1: test was more popular than the mouse test that preceded it, 405 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:48,880 Speaker 1: there was another way to test for pregnancy that followed 406 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,159 Speaker 1: in the nineteen thirties, so not very long after the 407 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 1: rabbit test was introduced, called the frog test, and this 408 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: one introduced into Western medicine by British biologist Lancelot hogban 409 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 1: didn't kill the test animal, Xenopus levis. Frogs used in 410 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:07,520 Speaker 1: this test would begin ovulating and dropping eggs quite quickly 411 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:11,119 Speaker 1: after being injected with urine that contained hCG in the 412 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,679 Speaker 1: levels consistent with pregnancy. You will also sometimes hear this 413 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 1: referred to as the Buffo test. That species was originally 414 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:22,040 Speaker 1: named Buffo levis before the name changed to Xenopus. So 415 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:25,600 Speaker 1: these frogs displayed their results in mere hours compared to 416 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,120 Speaker 1: the days that it took with previous methods of mice 417 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:30,919 Speaker 1: and rabbits, and the same frog could be used for 418 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:34,919 Speaker 1: repeated testing since there wasn't a necropsy needed to confirm 419 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,200 Speaker 1: these results. Yeah, this is also one of those things 420 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,120 Speaker 1: that has possibly led to some species integration in places 421 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:46,119 Speaker 1: it is not natural for it to exist, because it appears, 422 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:48,520 Speaker 1: at least based on what I read, that this really 423 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 1: caused no harm to the frogs whatsoever. And so these 424 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:53,640 Speaker 1: labs would end up with lots and lots of frogs 425 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:56,760 Speaker 1: and eventually they would start letting some go. So they 426 00:23:56,760 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 1: had originated in South Africa and then ended up up 427 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:05,359 Speaker 1: being let loose outside of labs throughout the Western world. 428 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:09,879 Speaker 1: We've done, uh like invasive species have come up on 429 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,160 Speaker 1: the show before, but I don't think I have ever 430 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 1: heard of invasive pregnancy test frogs and the invasive frogs 431 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,880 Speaker 1: that have have gone on to retire from being pregnancy 432 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: tests ers. They also eventually realized that they could use 433 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:26,320 Speaker 1: male frogs as well, and they would basically release sperm, 434 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,200 Speaker 1: and they actually had a much faster test result than 435 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:33,720 Speaker 1: the female frogs, So both both males and females of 436 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:36,880 Speaker 1: the species ended up being used. But hogg Ban did 437 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:39,719 Speaker 1: not get to retain a clear claim to this discovery. 438 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:44,119 Speaker 1: While he had apparently suggested that these frogs could be 439 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:47,320 Speaker 1: used to detect certain hormones and pregnant women. He didn't 440 00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:49,560 Speaker 1: really land at the idea that the frogs could be 441 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:51,760 Speaker 1: used to design a pregnancy test, and he did not 442 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 1: set up any of the testing around it. It was 443 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 1: Hogben's student Hill L. Shapiro and Shapiro's research partner, Harry's 444 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: Warrenstein who act took the idea from theoretical to practical 445 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:06,600 Speaker 1: by designing executing studies with the frogs. Of course, the 446 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:09,399 Speaker 1: frog test caught on because if its benefits over the 447 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:12,280 Speaker 1: other options, and it was used until the nineteen sixties, 448 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:15,440 Speaker 1: when pregnancy tests were developed that didn't involve the use 449 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:19,800 Speaker 1: of animals at all. After that, home kits eventually hit 450 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:22,160 Speaker 1: the market in the nineteen seventies, the first of which 451 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,639 Speaker 1: was called Predictor and which took two hours to offer 452 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:30,080 Speaker 1: a result. These were a lot more convoluted than today's 453 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:32,840 Speaker 1: where you just pe honest stick. If you have watched 454 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:37,560 Speaker 1: the Netflix series Glow, you've seen what one looks like. Yeah, yeah, 455 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:40,040 Speaker 1: And I should say that they there were other tests 456 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:43,440 Speaker 1: being developed that did not involve animals before the nineteen sixties, 457 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:45,440 Speaker 1: but they just you know, had not reached a level 458 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:48,879 Speaker 1: of reliability that they could supplant these animal based testing options. 459 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:52,320 Speaker 1: And as for the developers of the rabbit test, Maxwell E. 460 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,800 Speaker 1: Lapham wrote a book titled Maternity Care in Rural Communities 461 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,400 Speaker 1: in ninety eight, so later in that same decade after 462 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,359 Speaker 1: they introduced the rabbit test. The year before that, he 463 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,480 Speaker 1: had joined the faculty at Tulane University School of Medicine, 464 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:06,679 Speaker 1: and he actually stayed with Tulane until the end of 465 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:09,160 Speaker 1: his career. When he died at the age of eighty three, 466 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:12,719 Speaker 1: it was in Tulane University Hospital and per his New 467 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,720 Speaker 1: York Times obituary, during his time as dean of the 468 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:19,439 Speaker 1: medical school, he had significantly bolstered the financing of the 469 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:22,919 Speaker 1: school's research program, taking it from thirty thousand dollars to 470 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:26,160 Speaker 1: five point five million, and that was basically just through 471 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,520 Speaker 1: grant money. Maurice Freedman moved to the Washington, d c. 472 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,399 Speaker 1: Area and worked for the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. He 473 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:36,200 Speaker 1: served in the Army Air Force in World War Two 474 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 1: as a medical officer and opened a private practice after 475 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,880 Speaker 1: the war was over, specializing in internal medicine. He died 476 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 1: of cancer in nine at the age of eighty seven, 477 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:48,119 Speaker 1: and one of Dr Friedman's more famous quotes regarding the 478 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,440 Speaker 1: rabbit test was quote, it's highly reliable. The only more 479 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:54,439 Speaker 1: reliable test is to wait nine months. That seems like 480 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:57,560 Speaker 1: a fun place to end it, uh, since it is 481 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:00,399 Speaker 1: a little bit to me, it's very fascinating, but you know, 482 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:02,640 Speaker 1: it does get into animal testing, which is not the 483 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,960 Speaker 1: most delightful topic, but it's an important part, I feel 484 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:09,679 Speaker 1: like of our scientific um history, particularly as it relates 485 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:12,400 Speaker 1: obviously to reproductive medicine, and it's something that people maybe 486 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:17,199 Speaker 1: don't realize that this was something that was that was 487 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:20,840 Speaker 1: not only commonplace, but it was also already being considered 488 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 1: in terms of animal welfare. I know in Great Britain 489 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:26,000 Speaker 1: they already had laws in place by the time the 490 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: mouse test was being used about how animals could be 491 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,360 Speaker 1: used for medical testing. That was one of the other 492 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:34,320 Speaker 1: things that led to some of the debates around whether 493 00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:37,120 Speaker 1: people should adopt the test. It was it was like, yes, 494 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:39,280 Speaker 1: but we're harming animals and you would just realize you 495 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:41,840 Speaker 1: were pregnant in a couple of weeks anyway, right. Um, 496 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:44,639 Speaker 1: So there's a lot of a lot of interesting layers 497 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,680 Speaker 1: to it, and it kind of evidence is a discussion 498 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:49,959 Speaker 1: about animal rights that was happening I think earlier than 499 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:53,400 Speaker 1: we maybe think of it exists. Yeah. Well, and that 500 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:56,320 Speaker 1: conversation connects to something that listeners asked us to talk 501 00:27:56,359 --> 00:28:00,400 Speaker 1: about before, which is the synthesis of insulince and how 502 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:04,000 Speaker 1: that was developed um, which is like, it's definitely on 503 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:08,760 Speaker 1: the very long topic idealist um and also connects to 504 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:12,840 Speaker 1: some of those questions about the ethics of of animals 505 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:18,480 Speaker 1: in medicine. Yeah. I have a fun postcard from Barcelona. Nice. 506 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:21,960 Speaker 1: It is from our listener Alex uh, and I believe 507 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 1: the other name on here is Tari, although I'm not positive. Uh. 508 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 1: It's written very very tiny and it has been through 509 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:31,960 Speaker 1: international mail. But Alex writes, Dear Holly and Tracy, Hello 510 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:34,720 Speaker 1: from Barcelona. My wife and I are traveling Europe to 511 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: celebrate her finishing her master's degree in graphic design. Congratulations. 512 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:41,000 Speaker 1: I have been meaning to come here since first learning 513 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:44,120 Speaker 1: about Lisata familia in seventh grade, so this is something 514 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:47,040 Speaker 1: of a lifelong dream being fulfilled by the way. I 515 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:49,680 Speaker 1: know you two love to shout out educators, so I 516 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: would like to thank my middle school Spanish teacher. I 517 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,800 Speaker 1: believe that's Senora Savera for inspiring this trip and for 518 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:59,720 Speaker 1: being an incredible teacher. So yes, of course, always always 519 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:02,960 Speaker 1: my it is off to educators. It was fortuitous timing 520 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 1: for me to get to listen to your episode on 521 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:07,920 Speaker 1: Francisco Franco a few days before I left. I have 522 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:10,440 Speaker 1: always found the Spanish Civil War very interesting, but have 523 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:12,920 Speaker 1: only learned about it through fictional works such as Pans 524 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,960 Speaker 1: Labyrinth and for Whom the Bell Tolls. I actually got 525 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:18,200 Speaker 1: to discuss Franco a little bit with a tour guide 526 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:20,680 Speaker 1: at a winery, and as a Catalan he had an 527 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: interesting perspective as well about how the Franco regime banned 528 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:28,200 Speaker 1: the Catalan language and suppressed the culture. Anyway, thank you 529 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:30,280 Speaker 1: for the great show. So it's a beautiful it's one 530 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 1: of those um a sort of wide postcards, and it's 531 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:37,920 Speaker 1: a really beautiful perspective on the Sagarada Familia uh from 532 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:40,760 Speaker 1: inside and it's just absolutely lovely, So thank you, thank 533 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:43,640 Speaker 1: you again. I'm always wold that people want to stop 534 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:46,160 Speaker 1: while they're traveling beautiful places and write his postcard. It's 535 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:48,640 Speaker 1: quite flattering. Yeah. Uh, if you would like to direct 536 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 1: to us. You can do so at History Podcast at 537 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. You can also find us 538 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:56,560 Speaker 1: pretty much everywhere on social media as missed in History, 539 00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:58,520 Speaker 1: and you can go to missed in History dot com, 540 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:01,280 Speaker 1: which is our website where you will find every episode 541 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 1: of the show that has ever existed, as well as 542 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:05,320 Speaker 1: show notes for the ones that Tracy and I have 543 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:08,000 Speaker 1: worked on. If you would like to subscribe to this podcast, 544 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:10,360 Speaker 1: I highly encourage it. That would be great. You could 545 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:13,280 Speaker 1: do that on the I Heart Radio app, at Apple Podcasts, 546 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:21,040 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to podcasts. For more on this 547 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:30,080 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff Works dot com. 548 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:27,040 Speaker 1: M