A 17-year-old California girl won $100,000 in a national science competition for her creation of a nanoparticle that can target and kill cancer cells. The particle can also deliver drugs when activated by a laser. The only bad part is that it will be 25 years before patients could see it used …
From The Wall Street Journal:
Angela Zhang, 17, of Cupertino, Calif., won top individual honors atthe Siemens Foundation’s annual high school science competition, whichannounced winners in Washington. Top team honors went to a pair ofstudents from Oak Ridge, Tenn., for their research using gamingtechnology to analyze the motion involved in walking. Cassee Cain andZiyuan Liu, both 17, will share a $100,000 scholarship.
Six individuals and six teams were competing for the awards, whichare in their 13th year. Zhang, the only female individual finalist, said her research was in part motivated by her family. Her great grandfather had liver cancer and her grandfather died of lung cancer when she wasin seventh grade.
"I asked, ‘Why does this happen. Why does cancer cause death? Whatare we doing to fix this and what can I do to help,’" said the MontaVista High School senior.
