Question

Imagine that 1 milliliter of an experimental drug diluted in a saline solution is injected into 20 pregnant mice to determine possible side effects. Which of the following is a suitable control for this experiment?

1) Injecting 1 milliliter of saline solution into 20 pregnant mice
2) Injecting 1 milliliter of the experimental drug into 20 non-pregnant mice
3) Injecting 1 milliliter of the experimental drug into 20 pregnant mice
4) Injecting 1 milliliter of saline solution into 20 non-pregnant mice

Answer 1

1) Injecting 1 milliliter of saline solution into 20 pregnant mice. The suitable control for an experiment testing an experimental drug on pregnant mice would be a group of pregnant mice injected with a placebo (saline solution), allowing for the control of the placebo effect.

Step-by-step explanation:

In an experiment to determine possible side effects of an experimental drug injected into pregnant mice, a suitable control would be option 1) Injecting 1 milliliter of saline solution into 20 pregnant mice. This control group receives a placebo, which is a "fake" treatment with no expected health effects. The placebo control is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the experiment by controlling for the placebo effect, ensuring that any observed effects in the experimental group can be attributed to the drug rather than psychological factors or other biases.