Breakthrough Teen

Forbes magazine published an article a few days ago about a 15 year old kid from Maryland named Jack Andraka, who won an international science competition with what Forbes speculates may change cancer detection.

Andraka's invention is a paper test strip that can detect pancreatic cancer way, way before it becomes invasive. The strip is coated in a solution of carbon nanotubes. (I've discussed nanotechnology a bunch of times here -- it involves tiny particles in different ways.) These nanotubes are basically hollow tubes made up of carbon cells that are one cell thick. They are coated with an antibody that binds with a protein when it comes into contact with it. For Andraka's project, that protein is an indication that pancreatic cancer cells are present.

Other, similar tests are already available for some other cancers. What makes his approach so different is that he found that once those proteins attach, the carbon nanotubes are pushed apart. When that happens, there is a change in the electrical conductivity of the test paper, which can be measured fairly easily.

Compared to the current test for pancreatic cancer, Andraka's test strip is 168 times faster, 26,667 times less expensive, and 400 times more sensitive.

That's amazing for anyone, but even more amazing for a teenager. 

Also amazing is his reaction to winning the competition. Be sure to click on the link and watch the video.

I think, sometimes, the breakthroughs come from people who are not so steeped in their fields. Over  time, we learn to look at the world a certain way. It's the outsiders, the young, the "oddballs," that don't have those limitations. (That's part of  the philosophy behind Stand Up 2 Cancer -- look at cancer in ways that people hadn't before, instead of building on what's come before.) Sometimes they're outsiders and oddballs for a reason, but sometimes they get it right.