Science Fair Project Idea

[tycon69]

So I have been straining my mind for a science fair idea since august and have just now came up with a good idea. I was planning on studying the effects of addiction in mice. My idea is to get 9 mice and place them into 3 different cages and assign them each different numbers, A1 B1 C1, ect. I would then fill 3 different syringes with 2 addictive substances and one placebo ( Nicotine, Alcohol, and a saline/glucose solution). From then i would inject each of the three in A intramuscularly with a small dose of a chemical, B with a moderate dose, and C with a larger dose at a specific time each day for a few weeks, all the while trying to keep myself blinded from which mouse gets which of the three chemicals. I would also try and implement some sort of sensory detail for the mice to associate with the doses like maybe a citrus aerosol spray or a specific music track.

After two or three weeks, or whatever time period at which they would be dependant upon the drugs, i would cease the doses and observe the withdrawal symptoms. I then plan to inject all of the mice with a placebo at their specific time with the specific sensory detail to test for a placebo calming of the withdrawal symptoms. I would also like to test any known treatments for addiction that i can find.

Thanks for reading and I wish for some feedback, since my science teacher is of no help at all. Is this procedure ethical to the mice? How hard is it to keep these mice up and alive? Is there anything that i should not do or should change? Are there any other legal addictive substances that I could test? What are some over the counter or traditional addiction cures that i should test on them during withdrawals? Is there anything I could add to make this experiment better? Is there a way to extract the nicotine or can i purchase nicotine in a pure aqueous form? Any feedback will help, I truely appreciate any help that I can get from you.

[mith]

uhh, you don't need to blind yourself, just put the chems in identical containers with different labelling like A,B,C and keep the id secret...i.e. having someone else fill the containers.

you should talk to your teacher about the ethics of it. if anyone is going to take heat, it shouldn't be you.

[JorgeLobo]

Animal studies are something you should review with your science fair folks.

[MikeJ]

Lets put aside the ethics of this experiment, you should be careful with your control. Glucose could be addictive itself. My memory is hazy, so no references, but I read about a study in which mice were presented cocaine and sugar. The mice would prefer the sugar.