Editing Rabbit test (section)

== Test ==
The hormone [[human chorionic gonadotropin]] (hCG) is produced during [[pregnancy]] and can be found in a pregnant woman's [[urine]] and blood; it indicates the presence of an implanted fertilized egg. An earlier test, known as the AZ test, was developed by [[Selmar Aschheim]] and [[Bernhard Zondek]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor=Morris Fishbein, M.D. |encyclopedia=The New Illustrated Medical and Health Encyclopedia |title=Aschheim-Zondek Test |edition=Home Library |year=1976 |publisher=H. S. Stuttman Co |volume=1 |location=New York |pages=139}}</ref> When urine from a woman in the early months of [[pregnancy]] was injected into immature female [[mice]], their [[ovaries]] would enlarge and show [[Ovarian follicle|follicular]] [[Developmental biology|maturation]]. The test was considered reliable, with an error rate of less than 2%.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Evans |first=Herbert M. |author2=Simpson, Miriam E.  |year=1930 |title=Aschheim-Zondek test for pregnancy – its present status. |journal=Calif West Med |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=145–8 |pmc=1657362 |pmid=18741327}}</ref> Friedman and Lapham's test was essentially identical, but replaced the mouse with a [[rabbit]]. A few days after the injection, the animal would be [[Dissection|dissected]] and the size of her ovaries examined.

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.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/site/comments/rabbit_test_the_rabbit_died/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191102160831/http://www.wordorigins.org:80/index.php/site/comments/rabbit_test_the_rabbit_died/ |archive-date=2 November 2019 |title=rabbit test / the rabbit died |last=Wilton |first=Dave|date=28 February 2007 |website=www.wordorigins.org |access-date=30 July 2018}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dr Maurice Friedman 87 Dies Created Rabbit Pregnancy Test|last=Howe|first=Marvine|date=10 March 1991|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/10/obituaries/dr-maurice-friedman-87-dies-created-rabbit-pregnancy-test.html}}</ref>

A later alternative to the rabbit test, known as the "[[Lancelot Hogben|Hogben test]]", used the [[African clawed frog]], and yielded results without the need to cut the animal open.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/05/how-a-frog-became-the-first-mainstream-pregnancy-test/525285/|title=How a Frog Became the First Mainstream Pregnancy Test|last=Yong|first=Ed|date=4 May 2017|work=The Atlantic|access-date=30 July 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Modern [[pregnancy test]]s continue to operate on the basis of testing for the presence of the hormone hCG in the blood or urine, but they no longer require the use of a live animal.