A science experiment conducted by students at Miaoli County’s Chun-I Senior High School found that coffee, astragalus and even alcohol improve the memory of zebrafish, whose genetic makeup largely mirrors that of humans.
Under the supervision of their biology teacher, Sung Wei-te (宋威德), students Chang Yu-wei (張祐瑋), Wen Shun-ju (溫舜如) and Chiu Shih-ju (邱詩茹) studied zebrafish raised in separate tanks with water mixed with coffee, tea leaves, ginseng, astragalus, alcohol and tobacco.
After four days of observation, they found that coffee, astragalus and alcohol improved the short-term memory of zebrafish, while the effects of the other three substances on zebrafish memory were insignificant.
Photo: Cheng Ming-hsiang, Taipei Times
The students devised the experiment because they wanted to solve the problem of reduced memory capacity and mental alertness due to academic pressure, Sung said.
They chose zebrafish as subjects because zebrafish and humans are nearly 90 percent genetically similar, he said.
Chang, Wen and Chiu won first place in the junior-high school biology division of a national science fair for their experiment.
The school has won first place in that division at the fair five times in six years, school principal Lin Ching-wang (林慶旺) said, adding that the achievement serves as a great encouragement for students and teachers.
He said he hoped that through the annual science fair and in the process of their scientific explorations, students would learn skills that would stay with them after graduation.
Chang, Wen and Chiu are to represent Miaoli County at the 59th National Primary and High School Science Fair in Kaohsiung from July 22 to July 28 at the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center.
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