Sophia Schupp ’24. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.
Each year, Northwood students find new and exciting topics to research for their Advanced STEM Research class. Sophia Schupp ‘24 spent her summer looking for a topic she was interested in researching for her project.
She studied how different dietary supplements can reduce seizures in epileptic fruit flies. She was influenced by her cousin, who has epilepsy and has tried some of these diets and wanted to learn more about them.
Schupp is testing the effects of both CBD and a keto diet on the flies’ seizures. To do this, she feeds flies their respective diet for two days before she tests them. To test them, she puts them in a test tube, which is put on a vortex to shake them. She records their activity through a program that tracks their seizures and allows her to see if their seizures are increasing, decreasing, or staying the same while on their diets.
“It’s been really interesting watching the flies seize,” Schupp said.