Young Scientists Solve Science's Biggest Problems

Source: New York Times bit.ly/ZR97TPhttp://

The article that I read talked about young scientists participating in the Intel Science Talent Search. The article was written in the New York Times by Ethan Hauser on March 11, 2013. The link can be found below. The article talked about the Intel Science Talent Search, a nationwide contest for young scientists who have made great contributions to science. Dan McQuaid, 17, who goes to Ossining High School in Ossining, NY, is one of the 40 finalists out of 1700 applications; from which one final winner is chosen (The winner was chosen on Tuesday. Finalists are below). Dan's cancer research is focused mainly on the topic of the protein KLF6, which isn't very prevalent in cancer, but acts like a tumor suppressor. Mayuri Sridhar's project was similar: she also looked at tumor suppressing proteins and what causes them to be inactive. Mayuri is 17 and goes to Kings Park High School in King's Park, NY. Many of the other projects are also focused towards biology. Jamie Lee Solimano's project focused on cell signaling using cilia, and what would happen if the cell's primary cilium was disrupted. Another project, submitted by Catherine Wong, 17, who goes to Stuyvesant High School in New York City, involved a wireless device that can produce an electrocardiograph and transmit the results to doctors via mobile phone. 

I found this article very interesting and I could connect it with biology class in a number of ways. The article talked about cell communication through cilia, which I could connect with biology class because we talked about cilia during our cell unit. I had never realized that cells could use cilia to communicate, and I found that very interesting. The article also connects to biology class because it talks about proteins that act as tumor suppressors, such as the protein p53. Mayuri Sridhar's project studies how a mutation in an amino acid that makes up the protein can change the structure of the protein so that it cannot bond with DNA and therefore cannot suppress tumors. This relates to what we recently talked about in biology class; mutations in proteins that benefit or harm humans. The mutated protein mentioned in the article does not function correctly, and proves harmful to a person, as it does not suppress tumors correctly and therefore causes cancer. 

I also found the article really cool because kids that are just a little bit older than I am are doing such groundbreaking research. The idea that kids around my age could do things like this was very inspiring, so congratulations to this year's winners. (See below for the finalists). The article also included videos about three of the contestants, which you can find here.

Update: The results of the contest were announced on Tuesday, March 12 in Washington D.C. The results are posted on the contest's web site here: 2013 STS Finalists.

Source: http://topnews.ae/images/Intel-Science-Talent-Search.jpg

Article Link:

http://nyti.ms/Z7Bmwp

New Technology Allows For Scientists to Do In-Depth Study of Brain

With new scanning technology available, scientists hope to be able to learn more about people and how their minds work. Through a study called the Human Connectome Project, scientists hope to be able to scan 1,200 adult brains to learn what gives us our special skills unique to each person. They have 68 at the moment. Each patient has to have their brain scanned for four hours, as well as play games and do things such as math and gambling. They also submit DNA samples for additional information.

The goal of scientists is to see if how your brain is wired relates to special skills that people have such as social skills or music skills. The participants have to take tests to see how you are at such activities.

The new technology scans the brain and shows haw different nerves connect and how strong the connections are. This makes a map called a structural map. The scanner can also show which parts are used when your do certain things, called a functional map.

The study has been related to the Human Genome project, a project where samples of DNA were decoded by scientists and shared with the scientific world. "We are very optimistic that as the community delves in and begins working on these data sets, they will reveal new insights into the brain circuits of healthy adults," says Prof David Van Essen of Washington University, who is the head of the project.

Another goal that the scientists involved have is learning more about disorders such as Dementia and Alzheimer’s. They say that if they learn more about the brain, they can discover why these diseases happen, and they could slow the rate that they happen.

This study reminds me of what we are learning in biology about DNA. The project has a similar format to the Human Genome project, which we discussed in class. The DNA of the test subjects are also used by scientists to compare between others to see how differences in DNA relate to differences in the brain's functioning. We also learned how scientists use DNA samples to compare different people's DNA in class.

I personally think this is a great advance. If we can find out more how our minds work, we can try to treat or prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s. We could also learn more about certain disorders and learn about new disorders in the brain, and they they happen.

 

Article By Pallab Gosch of BBC News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21660159