Early research · High school · Neurobiology · 2023Early research
Copper Sulfate Neurotoxicity in the Hirudo verbana Leech
Quantify how copper sulfate exposure affects the nervous system and behavior of the Hirudo verbana leech, combining behavioral tracking, histopathology, and proteomics to test whether functional harm appears below lethal doses.
- Developed a MATLAB center-of-mass tracking tool to quantify vitality — feeding, locomotion, and light-avoidance behavior — across exposure levels.
- Ran histopathology of the nerve ganglia and proteomic analysis to connect the physical nerve damage to protein-level changes.
MATLAB behavioral analytics with center-of-mass tracking; proteomics and histopathology to corroborate the behavioral findings.
MATLABProteomicsHistopathologyData Analytics
- At 10 ppm, every leech died within four days; at 0–5 ppm none died in that window.
- Early neurological deficits appeared at just 0.5 ppm — the leeches stopped attaching to food, moved less, and no longer sought the dark, well before any deaths.
- Histology showed fewer healthy neurons and frayed, hole-filled axons; proteomics showed repair/structure proteins dropping while inflammation markers rose — matching the physical damage.
- Bottom line: copper sulfate causes functional nerve harm below some regulatory action limits, so safety limits should track behavior and function, not just deaths.
- ISEF Third Place Grand Award · Massachusetts Chemistry & Technology Alliance 1st Place · JEI peer-reviewed publication · $2,500 UMass Boston research grant.