Planarian Drug
Research
By: Jennifer Navarrete
Azion Hyman
Ashaunti Hyman
Riverside Middle School
Williamston, NC
Did you know that sugar is a
drug?
Why Planarians are used for
drug studies ?
Planarians are used for this study
because they have a close relation to
how humans respond to things and react.
What happens in the brain
when there is addiction ?
Addictive substances produce motor
stimulant effects by enhancing dopamine
and glutamate.
Introduction:
⦿
Planarians are freeliving, primarily
carnivorous flatworms
with a three-branched
digestive cavity.
⦿
Planarians are used for
this study to see how
planarians react to
sugar.
Purpose:
⦿
The purpose of this experiment is to see
how planarians react to different
concentrations of sugar and how
velocity of the planarians changes
after consuming each concentration
of sugar.
Drugs Affect Physical
Abilities
We think that exposure to extreme
amounts of sugar will affect the
physical behavior (motility) of the
worms.
Hypothesis:
⦿
EXPERIMENT 1: If the planarians are placed
in sucrose solutions, as sucrose
concentrations decrease, then the average
velocity will increase.
⦿
EXPERIMENT 2: If planarians are exposed to
Monster Energy drink, that contain both
caffeine and sugar, then the average
velocity will decrease.
SUGAR ADDICTION
A Real Story
of Addiction
Marsha Smith is a
substitute teacher at
our school.
⦿ She has eliminated
sodas from her diet.
⦿ When she stopped
drinking soda, she
developed severe
headaches.
⦿ This is her story of
addiction…
⦿
Materials
⦿
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⦿
⦿
⦿
⦿
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Planarians (3/drug condition) (Maximum 12 for the
Experiment )
Light Source (A 30-cm fluorescent light that delivers
illuminance level of 300 -600 ulx and commonly used
as an aquarium light fixture)
5”x7” photo developing tray, 3” deep
Petri dishes for maintaining planarians in drug solution
Solutions of Sugar
Plastic Pipettes with mL markings
Stopwatches (1/group) or other timing device
Spring Water (not distilled of drinking water!)
Glass/plastic containers with lids to store solutions
Experimental Method: Sucrose
⦿
⦿
Place spring water (the
control ) in the grooves of
the photo-developing tray.
Place planarians in grooves
into tray at the introduction
zone.
Experimental Method
Record the time it takes for the
planarians to travel 5 cm,
paying attention to possible
changes in movement style.
⦿ Repeat these steps using
different concentrations of
sucrose.
⦿ Test three different planarians
simultaneously for each
solution.
⦿ Calculate the average
velocity, V=d/t, for each
planarian and then average
the results.
⦿
Data Table:
⦿
As sucrose concentration decreases,
then the average velocity increases.
10mM
1mM
0.01mM
Spring
Water
0.04 cm/sec 0.142 cm/
sec
Planarian 1 0.037 cm/
sec
0.27 cm/sec
Planarian 2 0.035 cm/
sec
0.145 cm/sec 0.105 cm/
sec
Planarian 3 0.022 cm/
sec
0.0329 cm/
sec
Average
0.149 cm/sec 0.054 cm/
sec
0.031 cm/
sec
0.0161 cm/
sec
0.048 cm/
sec
0.048 cm/
sec
0.079 cm/
sec
Graph:
Average Planarian Velocity in Sucrose
Average Velocity cm/sec
0.16
0.12
control
0.08
0.04
0
Spring Water 10mM
1mM
0.1mM
0.01mM
Averag
Graph:
Average Velocity ( cm/sec )
0.5
0.38
Average Velocity ( c
0.25
0.13
0
Spring Water
1 mM Sucrose
10 mM Caffeine 0.01 mM Caffeine
1% Monster
Materials/Monster Energy Experiment
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Planarians (3/drug condition) (Maximum 12 for the
Experiment )
Light Source (A 30-cm fluorescent Strip that delivers
illuminance level of 300 -600 ulx and commonly used as
an aquarium light fixture)
5”x7” photo developing tray, 3” deep
Petri dishes for maintaining planarians in drug solution
Solution of Monster Energy Drink
Plastic Pipettes with mL markings
Stopwatches (1/group)
Spring Water ( not distilled of drinking water!)
Glass/plastic containers with lids to store solutions
Experimental Method
Monster Energy Experiment
⦿
Follow same
experimental
method as
Experiment #1:
Sucrose Experiment
Average Velocity ( cm/sec )
0.5
Conclusion:
0.38
Average
0.25
0.13
0
Spring Water
10 mM Caffeine
1% Monster
⦿
At a higher dosage of sucrose, the planarians had a lower velocity because of the
occurrence of seizures.
⦿
At the lower dosage of sucrose, the average velocity increased.
⦿
The planarians had seizures and died in the Monster Energy drink. None survived, until the
Monster Energy concentration was 1%. Energy drinks can be lethal to worms. Drugs can kill.
How Does This Relate to Us?
⦿
Jennifer: “It taught me what drugs actually do to us and how
we react to them. It also showed me what some drugs were
because I never knew caffeine and sugar were drugs.”
⦿
Azion: “ This shows me how to be a better worker and how to
multitask better. Also, to be more professional and how to use
math in the outside world and to use what I have been taught
in school to be able to present a good impression to different
people.”
⦿
Ashaunti: “ The planarians react almost the same ways as
humans do. We can learn a lot about human drug addiction
by watching the worms.”
STEM NIGHT EXPERIENCE:
We were able to share what we learned with our community.
We Would Like To Thank…
•
East Carolina University
•
Temple University
•
Science Ed. Against Drug Abuse
Partnership (SEADAP)
•
National Institute on Drug Abuse
(NIDA)