Booth Id:
ANIM015
Category:
Animal Sciences
Year:
2021
Finalist Names:
Sanchez, Isabella (School: Granbury High School)
Abstract:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration mandates that Red 40 must be listed by name on food and
product labels. Red 40 is made from plant, animal, or mineral sources. Red 40 has been linked to
hyperactivity, ADHD, and even higher incidences of aggressive behaviors in children. Using cultures
of Drosophila melanogaster that had been raised in Red 40 media, I tested the hypothesis that
subsequent generations will show an increase in aggressive behaviors.
Drosophila melanogaster was cultured in media that contained 0.05 mg of Red 40. Pupae were
collected from the first and second generation and were then placed in isolation tubes to allow for
maturity. Two male flies were put into fight chambers with a decapitated female. After a 5-minute
acclimation period, two aspects were measured. The first is the latency to fighting which is the time
of the first aggressive contact. The second is the fighting index which is the number of aggressive
movements during a 30-minute period. A two-tailed t test was used to analyze the data.
Compared to the first generation of D. melanogaster (mean latency to fighting 808 sec, SD 106.3
sec, mean fighting index 30%, SD 5.5%), the second generation of showed a lower latency to fighting
and a higher fighting index (mean latency to fighting 405 sec, SD 95.6 sec, mean fighting index
54.3%, SD 8.1%).
This study showed that continuous exposure to Red 40 does increase aggressive behaviors in
subsequent generations of D. melanogaster. Further experiments will clarify if the increase in
aggressive behaviors continues in later generations or if the effect reaches a plateau.