Unfortunately, over 85% of pancreatic cancers are diagnosed too late, when sufferers already have only a 2% chance of surviving. A 15-year-old teenager, during a school project, however succeeded in finding the method which will upset research!
Jack Andraka was only a 15-year-old teenager, attending North County High School in Maryland, United States, when during a school project, he developed a new test capable of detecting pancreatic cancer 168 times faster and 1000 times cheaper than those existing before.
It is on the occasion of a biology course that Jack has read two scientific articles on the Internet and that he has the idea to combine different molecules between them.
After sending his project to many teachers, only one will answer him and give him a chance.
It was a success!
Jack was interested in the various ways of preventing sickness to progress following the death fast from his uncle due to a pancreatic cancer.
Jack Andraka is now 19 years old and this little genius received the Intel Science Fait grand prize in 2012.
Well done and thank you Jack!
Photo Credit: XPRIZE Foundation – wikipedia– (CC BY 2.0)
