Inhalants, which include aerosols, volatile liquids, gases, and nitrites, have found increasing use as mind-altering drugs especially among middle school- and high school-aged children. Inhalants have devastating effects on the nervous system, as well as the lungs, liver, and circulatory system. This SBIR proposal addresses the need to teach about the effects of inhalants in high school biology using Sf9 insect cell culture, a system that lends itself to high schools in terms of its affordability, reproducibility, and relative ease of use. Insect cell will be incubated in the presence of inhalants and cells toxicity determined by cell growth and survival, as well as measurements of apoptosis vs. necrosis as the form of cell death. We will also develop assessment tools for educational strategies to prevent abuse of inhalants that are linked to the National Science Education Standards.
Most high schools have not utilized insect cell culture for laboratory teaching activities. While cell culture studies are copiously published, little has been done to fulfill the needs for high school biology, technology, or multi-disciplinary sciences. We propose to make these available in a format that also teaches the dangers of misuse of household items as drugs.
