Acadia Palmer-Toy
Class of 2024Agoura Hills, California
About
Hi! My name is Acadia Palmer-Toy, and I am researching the effect of cannabinoids on fruit flies' reproduction rate! I want to see the effects of cannabinoids on fruit flies because it is very important to make sure that cannabinoids are as safe as they are made out to be now that marijuana is legalized in California. After this project I hope the publish my results and continue my research on cannabinoids and their effects.Projects
- "Assaying the effect of cannabinoids on Drosophila reproduction rates" with mentor Nila (Jan. 21, 2024)
Acadia's Symposium Presentation
Project Portfolio
Assaying the effect of cannabinoids on Drosophila reproduction rates
Started May 1, 2023
Abstract or project description
Previous observational studies on humans and other mammals have concluded that use of marijuana can decrease sperm count. The effects of cannabinoids, especially THC, have been under investigation to see how they impact fertility. In my project, I want to test this by using Drosophila as a model system. Using wild type wingless Drosophila, virgin males or females will be exposed to either CBD infused food, THC infused food, or control food. After 3 days of drug exposure, males of each treatment will be placed with their respective virgin females in a vial with regular, untreated food. They will have 3 days to copulate and lay eggs before they are removed. The eggs will stay in that vial and have 10+ days to emerge, when I will count and sex the adults in order to compare the amount of offspring between the different treatments. I will then do a difference of means t-test between each group to statistically evaluate the impact of cannabinoids on reproductive rate.