Australia's intrepid cane toad might just make the endangered species list now that Queensland scientists have unlocked the marauding muncher's biological secrets.

Cane toads have plagued Queensland's creeks and waterways since 1935. Apart from being poisonous, cane toads are destructive and will eat almost anything, including rare Australian native frogs. Estimates of up to 200 million cane toads are inexorably eating their way westward, threatening native wildlife on an epic scale.

Cane Toad Sex Gene Unlocked

University of Queensland Institute for Molecular Bioscience PhD candidate John Abramyan says his team is developing a “daughterless” cane toad, an experiment that involves genetic modification (GM). The team has discovered a way to isolate a male toad's sex chromosome to alter its genetic make-up. A male toad carrying such a chromosome will pass it on to its mating partner. Any tadpoles born female will change course and turn into males and they too will carry the “daughterless” genome.

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