Sertraline, Gender Differences, Great Friends, and Amazing Memories! by Abby Clark

After testing the effects of Sertraline (Zoloft) on flies for the past couple of weeks through the centrophobism assay, I finally had my data and was able to come to a conclusion. It seemed that gender did end up making a difference drug effectiveness. In the Centrophobism Assay, I observed that the males flies crossed the center more often than the females exposed to the same dosage, suggesting the anxiety of the male flies decreased to a significantly higher degree than that of the females.  Zoloft was also found to increase activity levels, as flies who consumed higher amounts of Sertraline were found to spend more time moving than those with exposed to less drug. The females required higher dosages than the males in order to become as active as them. This could be due to the fact that the females are larger than the males and thus require more of the drug to experience the same effects. If so, this would probably translate to humans in that males, as they are typically larger than females, would require higher dosages of Sertraline than females to experience the same effects. ​

---

Conducting these assays was very intriguing, as it was interesting to see the data come together and understand the effects of the drug, which I had been wondering about for weeks. I ended up partially disproving my hypothesis, as although I had predicted the drug to be more effective in reducing female anxiety, I had predicted that it would decrease activity when it actually ended up increasing activity.
​
Furthermore, not only did I enjoy conducting my research, but I also had a blast with a bunch of new friends that I made through this program. Coming from many different schools, it was neat to see us all become great friends and have so much fun together. From trying and filming many challenges (and failing) to racing one another (or just watching), we made memories that we will all cherish for a long time. It was super neat to get to know one another, as well as the fabulous instructors we had. Thank you so much to Dr. Purdy, Miss P., Dr. Gardiner, Pooja, and Surali for teaching us so much, challenging us, and being super supportive. Thank you also to my wonderful new friends; I wish you all the best!