Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in Chick Embryos

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in Chick Embryos

Introduction:

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is the leading cause of birth defects in the world, which can include physical deformities, mental retardation, learning disorders, vision difficulties and behavioral problems.It is caused by fetal exposure to alcohol, or alcohol compounds. Ethanol is one of the components found within alcohol. Although, ethanol is a relatively simple organic compound, it is a known teratogen. A teratogen is an agent that can interfere with the normal development of a fetus. The exposure of an embryo to a teratogen like ethanol can disrupt the development of the central nervous system(CNS), more specifically it affects the development of radial glial cells(Rubert, Miñan, Pascual, & Guerri, et. al, 2006). These glial cells act as neural progenitors, which in this case can be equated with neural stem cells. In some experiments that have been done, it was found that Alcohol can act as inducer of cell apoptosis(Cell Death) in neural crest cells, which would negatively affect the development of many structures throughout the body, rather than just the brain(Smith).

Furthermore, it was found that in the chick embryo, the time in which the fetus was exposed to the alcohol affected which structures were affected the most(Smith).

Our Hypothesis is that the concentration of ethanol will retard the growth and development of the embryonic chickens. The rate of development will decrease inversely with the concentration of ethanol exposed to the embryonic chickens. In other words, the higher the concentration of ethanol used, the lower the rate of development of the chicken embryo.

Procedure

A dozen eggs containing chick embryos at 27-hours of previous incubation was obtained, prior to puncture of the egg(s), each egg was labeled with a marker with the concentration of ethanol that would be injected into the egg, 0%, which acts as our control, 5%, 10% or 15% Ethanol, all made in Howard Ringer’s solution prior to the lab. In each egg, a small hole was made in the blunt end of the egg containing the air pocket, and then 250ul of each respective solution injected into each egg using a 1ml syringe. 3 eggs that acted as our control, 3 with the 5% alcohol solution, 3 with the 10% Alcohol solution, and 3 with the 15% alcohol solution. After the injection, the eggs were then incubated for 14 days at 37 degrees Celsius. After 2 weeks, each of the embryos development were terminated, and each egg was opened up and the results were recorded.

Results:

Left-Control

Right-10%