Daphnia Magna Experiment
Darra Boyer
November 18, 2015
Affects of Various Drugs on the Heart Rate of Daphnia magna
Introduction The Daphnia magna, more commonly known as water flea, is indigenous to ponds and lakes in northern and western North America. This crustacean has an outer transparent covering called the carapace. The unique physiology of the water flea is useful in translational research allowing researchers to visibly study all of the bodily systems without causing harm to the specimen (2). Being classified as an indicator species, the Daphnia magna are extremely sensitive to changes to their marine environment, sometimes showing biological symptoms in response to toxicity exposure. (1). In this experiment, three Daphnia magna were treated with three different drugs to measure the change in their short-term cardiac function; ethanol, caffeine and nicotine. Ethanol, found in drinking alcohol is a …show more content…
According to the results the Daphnia in the control group (pond water) had a heart rate around 175 beats per minute (bpm). When Daphnia 1 was exposed to a 50% diluted ethanol solution, the heart rate dropped to 40bpm. While both Daphnia 2 and Daphnia 3 who were exposed to nicotine and caffeine showed an increase in heart rate to 300bpm.
Try something more like this: The results indicate all Daphnia in pond water (control group) had an average heart rate of 175 beats per minute (BPM). When exposed to 50% ethanol, the heart rate of the Daphnia tested dropped to 40 BPM. Interestingly, both the nicotine and caffeine groups showed an increase in heart rate to 300 BPM.
Figure 1: Relationship between chemicals used and the control normal heart rate of the Daphnia magna
November 18, 2015
Affects of Various Drugs on the Heart Rate of Daphnia magna
Introduction The Daphnia magna, more commonly known as water flea, is indigenous to ponds and lakes in northern and western North America. This crustacean has an outer transparent covering called the carapace. The unique physiology of the water flea is useful in translational research allowing researchers to visibly study all of the bodily systems without causing harm to the specimen (2). Being classified as an indicator species, the Daphnia magna are extremely sensitive to changes to their marine environment, sometimes showing biological symptoms in response to toxicity exposure. (1). In this experiment, three Daphnia magna were treated with three different drugs to measure the change in their short-term cardiac function; ethanol, caffeine and nicotine. Ethanol, found in drinking alcohol is a …show more content…
According to the results the Daphnia in the control group (pond water) had a heart rate around 175 beats per minute (bpm). When Daphnia 1 was exposed to a 50% diluted ethanol solution, the heart rate dropped to 40bpm. While both Daphnia 2 and Daphnia 3 who were exposed to nicotine and caffeine showed an increase in heart rate to 300bpm.
Try something more like this: The results indicate all Daphnia in pond water (control group) had an average heart rate of 175 beats per minute (BPM). When exposed to 50% ethanol, the heart rate of the Daphnia tested dropped to 40 BPM. Interestingly, both the nicotine and caffeine groups showed an increase in heart rate to 300 BPM.
Figure 1: Relationship between chemicals used and the control normal heart rate of the Daphnia magna