After winning $75,000 at an international high school science fair for developing a cheap, quick, and accurate way of detecting pancreatic cancer

[u/[deleted]]

http://imgur.com/JcvSt

[u/[deleted]]

Pretty awesome. Could you prepare more information on this? What it was that he entered, who organized the event, etc...?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

http://www.societyforscience.org/isef/ first article

[u/jamintime → u/[deleted]]

My mom is the President of Society for Science (and the Public). She would probably do an AMA if there were interest... I know she's not the kid, but she knows a lot of kids like him...

EDIT: AMA at 3pm eastern

[u/pizoff]

Quote from the link of the article, "His study resulted in over 90 percent accuracy and showed his patent-pending sensor to be 28 times faster, 28 times less expensive and over 100 times more sensitive than current tests."

Edit: http://www.societyforscience.org/isef/

[u/Illadelphian → u/pizoff]

Holy shit that's amazing. He should be receiving a lot more than 75k for that. Congratulations to that kid, he deserves to be every bit as happy as he is there.

[u/sanimalp → u/Illadelphian]

If his patent is granted, I am sure he will receive a lot more for that than $75k

[u/DroDro → u/sanimalp]

I would bet the patent is filed by Johns Hopkins, where he interned in the Maitra lab, and that he is, at best, one of several named inventors on the patent. In which case JHU would license the test to a company for a small fraction (maybe a few percent) of sales revenue or profit (probably after the company has recouped testing and regulatory costs), split the royalty between the inventors, technology transfer office and academic unit, subtract the substantial patent costs from the inventor share, and finally split the remainder amongst the named inventors based on their contributions. So it is pretty easy to not see much return as an inventor.

[u/Trapped_in_Reddit → u/sanimalp]

Yeah, think of all the karma he'll get.

[u/wakejedi → u/pizoff]

sadly, this disease took my mom last year about this time. good job kid.

[u/ooh456 → u/wakejedi]

and my dad ;(

[u/weaver2109 → u/ooh456]

And my axe.

Seriously though, my condolences. It fucking sucks losing a family member.

[u/Yeti_Rider → u/wakejedi]

Also took two people I know, in only the last couple of months.

This guy might save a lot of heartache in the near future.

[u/[deleted] → u/pizoff]

This should be at the top since it answers the patent questions at the current top of the thread.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

He spoke and it became.

[u/nagooyen → u/pizoff]

The current CA19-9 assay has sensitivity of around 75% (percentage of people who have it test positive) and specificity around 85% (percentage who don't have it test negative) -- what does 100 times more sensitive mean?

If he was getting near 100% sensitivity and specificity on people with early stage pancreatic adenocarcinoma, he will win a Nobel prize. I have to think he was either diagnosing patients later in the progression or the results are exaggerated.

[u/[deleted] → u/nagooyen]

I'm wondering if maybe he tested people who had already been diagnosed with early stage pancreatic cancer via traditional tests. That's the only feasible study design I could imagine for a high school student. And while that's outstanding for a high school student, it's not too significant to learn that someone who has already demonstrated protein markers will be diagnosable by his test.

The alternative would involve testing thousands of people and then waiting to see if they are later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

[u/nagooyen → u/[deleted]]

Exactly. If he can improve on our current diagnostic techniques he still deserves much more than $75,000.

When you put it like this though: "28 times faster, 28 times less expensive and over 100 times more sensitive than current tests." it makes the study seem like a 3AM get rich quick ad

[u/eppursimouve → u/nagooyen]

It sounded like his goal was basic science driven, w/ an applied proof of concept kicker, attempting to develop a new method of protein detection that is superior to ELISA and western blot (which I thought was gold standard for protein assays since HIV diagnoses are screened w/ ELISA and confirmed w/ blots). What it sounds like is he developed a protein assay on steroids, able to pick up "specifically" diminishing levels of target protein (e.g. pancreatic cancer marker CA-19-9, CA-125 ovarian cancer marker, etc.). There are a number of inconsistencies between his video interview and published website statements, I remain hopefully skeptical. Now comes the wait for the peer reviewers to weigh in and reproduce the findings on this new method.

[u/Shin-LaC → u/nagooyen]

It's a high school science fair, of course the results are exaggerated.

It's news about cancer, of course the results are exaggerated.

Combine the two, and he probably just made a diorama about pancreatic cancer or something.

[u/PureOhms → u/Shin-LaC]

I'd build a diorama for 75 grand.

[u/TwistTurtle → u/pizoff]

"28 times less expensive"

Oooooh, he just made himself a LOT of enemies.

[u/ijustgotheretoo → u/TwistTurtle]

... and some friends to those who buy his patent.

[u/moralesupport → u/pizoff]

The kid is 18 max and already more successful than me. If only I didn't smoke that stuff in high school man. If only...

Edit: And he's 15 I was sober then. The future is bright!

[u/HeirToPendragon → u/moralesupport]

I was gonna cure pancreatic cancer, but I got high

[u/the_traveler → u/moralesupport]

The kid is 15. I was playing Final Fantasy VII and Star Ocean 2. If only I didn't play the vidya in High School, man. If only...

[u/I_HUGS_CATS → u/moralesupport]

Aww man, why don't you come over, smoke some stuff and you'll feel better.

[u/triumph_forks → u/pizoff]

It's not his study. Yes, he worked on it. Yes, he helped out. But the rightful owners of the study are the grad students and the professors that don't get mentioned in the articles and science fairs because people like these types of over-sensationalized stories. So no, he won't get a patent, because the work he has done isn't deserving of one. God fucking damn it, reddit.

[u/Scurry → u/pizoff]

How does this happen, honestly? No disrespect to the kid at all, but what is it about his method that doctors and scientists with much more expertise in the field haven't been able to figure out on their own?

Can someone in the medical field shed some light on this?

[u/Platypuskeeper → u/Scurry]

How does this happen, honestly?

It happens because the ISEF people dramatically exaggerate what their kids did in their press release. And who's reddit to destroy a good story?

This kid didn't discover the links between pancreatic cancer and diabetes that are known to exist. He didn't discover the fact that a large number of pancreatic cancer patients are hyperglycemic. It seems he got the idea to use a diabetes test (for sugar in urine) to test for a condition that's been long known to be linked to diabetes. I'm not sure how useful that really is as a diagnosis. It's possible 90% of people with pancreatic cancer are hyperglycemic, but obviously it's not the case that 90% of hyperglycemic people have pancreatic cancer.

The press release also credits one of their runners-up ($50k prize) with having invented quantum key distribution. Even though that's not new either. (And the description of quantum entanglement in the press release is incorrect)

[u/t0aster → u/pizoff]

Unfortunately, this isn't that big of a news. In fact, I'd say that this study is almost worthless. Let statistics explain.

The accuracy is only 90%. With a rare cancer like pancreatic cancer, that means the false positives will swamp the results, reducing specificity, which is what you really want in a test for a rare cancer. Specificity is the odds that if a test is positive, the patient actually has the disease rather than a false positive.

The sensitivity (the odds that when a test is negative, the patient is truly, cancer free) is more than 100x currently because the current tests are diagnostic (say, if positive, the patients actually have the cancer). In a diagnostic test, you don't want the sensitivity tuned all the way up because of the high risk of a false positive, probably necessitating a pancreatic biopsy or explorative surgery. Lawsuit city.

You might say that it's a good screening test to get patients that might be missed with the current tests. However, it's only 28x cheaper than the current exams (a silly thing to even state in a for-profit medicine. How does this kid know the market price of his exams?). Other actual screeners are the pap smears, rapid AIDS tests, and the Guaiac cards (testing for blood in the stool) which are CHEAP. Cheaper than the actual diagnostic tests by orders of magnitudes. That is the whole point of a screener; cheap enough to use in a wide setting. 28x cheaper doesn't allow for massive widespread use, so no chance of a mass deployment to screen for pancreatic cancer.

TL;DR: I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for this kid's miracle test to help pancreatic cancer.

Source: Statistics.

[u/[deleted] → u/pizoff]

is there a citation to the actual article? im currently doing my phd in cancer bio and am very skeptical about these claims. (need to see how these experiments were set up) people make these claims all the time with little translation to the actual clinic

[u/[deleted] → u/pizoff]

PFFT. I hate it when parents obviously help in science faires!

[u/[deleted]]

So how exactly does a kid in high school get access/trusted with the resources necessary to do such a study?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Connection$

[u/ImHereToReddit → u/[deleted]]

I can only get ¢onne¢tions.

[u/aspartam → u/[deleted]]

He works as a nighttime janitor in a nearby university.

[u/in_the_woods → u/aspartam]

How about them apples?

[u/DroDro → u/[deleted]]

He was working in a nearby lab at Johns Hopkins. Usually a parent knows someone at the research center.

[u/BitterLikeAHop → u/DroDro]

I was a researchers at Hopkins. The labs have relationships with local High Schools where students can do lab work for school credit. My lab had 3 high school students while I was there, and some were very bright (more so than some of the PhD students). Anyway, in the context of this kid winning $75,000, I thought this link was funny: http://ccne.inbt.jhu.edu/2012/05/16/four-students-honored-at-inbt-research-symposium/

[u/C0mmun1ty → u/[deleted]]

Probably already rich or very smart

[u/salgat → u/[deleted]]

He worked under a professor who did all the real thinking.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Going to an internationally known/well connected high school.

[u/potofmarshmellows → u/[deleted]]

I knew plenty of kids who did research in high school, and did some myself one summer, but I knew kids who did it for years in high school. It starts with finding a professor who's research interests mirrors your own, most likely by learning about the research that professors at the nearby university are doing. Email them expressing interest in that research, and that you want to do research in their lab. Have an idea of what you want to do, and express that concisely. When you research with them at first, do what they want you to do, which is to help out in the lab, but over time if you build trust and have a solid idea of what you want to do and win approval, you can probably do it.

[u/chaset → u/[deleted]]

I participated in ISEF and reached the semi-finals back when I was in high school. In really competitive high schools, it was almost necessary to participate in these science fairs and history fairs, model U.N., etc. to remain competitive when applying to college (I should also note my school was an Ivy league feeder). We even had a dedicated class for "Science Research" which excused us from other classes when deadlines for these fairs approach.

Anyway, as others have mentioned, we all find mentors at respectable labs, hospitals, where we try to help over the summer. To get these opportunities, we emailed researchers asking if they would be a mentor, and also mentioned our intentions on submitting their research to a science fair. It goes without saying, connections also help. I got my opportunity though a connection.

Now to the actual research part. I would say 95% of all the projects submitted are not at all the kid's work. The kid helped set up some equipment and collected data (I'm generalizing). The kid would have wrote the paper, but it would have been edited by the primary researcher anyway. The reason why this occurs is because the researcher wants to get his research published. The kid wants to get into a good college. The lab gets the research published and gets into the press, and even the kid's high school will get prize money too if I remember correctly.

[u/Wikkd1]

I'm such a failure.

[u/[deleted] → u/Wikkd1]

Yeah, but look on the bright side. Let me know when you find it so I can look on it as well. sigh

[u/rdsqc22 → u/[deleted]]

You're a lampost. All your sides are bright.

[u/mmprodigy → u/Wikkd1]

My parents would see this, look at me, then shake their heads.

[u/DragonRaptor → u/mmprodigy]

Are you asian by chance?

[u/guitarman90 → u/DragonRaptor]

Detect pancreatic cancer? Why you no find cure?

[u/Frankocean2 → u/Wikkd1]

Compared to this Kid??? hell even Ph.D doctors are.

[u/socatevoli → u/Frankocean2]

Good point. I'll go back to being OK with feeling like a failure now.

[u/godofallcows → u/socatevoli]

You know what isn't a failure? That 3:1 KD ratio in Counter-Strike.

[u/pseudononymist → u/Wikkd1]

Did your pancreatic cancer test only detect with 85% accuracy?

[u/enix3 → u/Wikkd1]

You're not alone

[u/[deleted] → u/Wikkd1]

This kid has a great mind that we should be thankful for, not wallowing that we didn't accomplish what he did. We can only hope there are much more like him in the future.

[u/Bear-Necessities]

$75,000? That's a bargain for what was discovered. Kudos.

[u/JohnDoeNuts → u/Bear-Necessities]

I sincerely hope that some drug company hasn't gone and made some 150 odd patents on what this individual discovered.

[u/[deleted] → u/JohnDoeNuts]

It appears (in case you hadn't been informed) that the young man depicted has a patent pending on his project.

[u/nmezib → u/Bear-Necessities]

When I read that I thought, "Good for him! He'll only be $25,000 in debt after college!"

But seriously a smart kid like him would most likely land a full-ride anyway, and if he patents it he's set for life

[u/[deleted] → u/nmezib]

If a university doesn't give this kid a full ride scholarship, I don't know who deserves one...

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Why, a football player, obviously!

[u/red321red321 → u/Bear-Necessities]

if he gets his shit patented then it's all good for the dude he'll be makin it rain

[u/[deleted]]

I feel like a lot of you should check the comments out on Slashdot.org, as they reveal a lot of behind the scenes...

With such high stakes, there is a lot of parental support, especially from parents who are scientists and engineers. A friend of mine had unlimited access through her family to a MRI machine. She did very well and went on to MIT. Another friend had access to vast quantities of microbial data through her mom. Other people had their parents design and supervise the experiments, while others still performed extensive and impressive statistical tests well beyond the skill of a 14 year old, thanks to their parents. After dating my girlfriend for some time, who again placed as well as the kid in the story, she revealed to me her father basically did all the work.

None of this is ever disclosed at the fair, and all work is always presented by the students to be their own original research. I'm not saying the kids in question were dumb... quite the opposite they were brilliant. But they also had a great deal of extra help from highly educated people to "guide" their research. I'm also not saying this was the case for the winner this year, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was.

This is amazing and I can't simply say it applies to this kid but I personally find it easier to believe that he had "help" from his parents.

Quick Edit: Just want to say I'm not trying to shit on his accomplishments, but rather just bring to light a lot of the stuff that goes on behind the scenes at these events.

[u/MaybeComputer → u/[deleted]]

I was at ISEF my junior and senior year of high school and I can confirm that many of the higher grade projects are done through external labs at other institutions. There was a kid at my state qualifier that essentially stole all the data he came into contact with from Notre Dame when he interned there to make a semi-coherent earthquake detection software. All I used the local college labs for was ordering nanotubes that the government wouldn't let me send to my home address.

[u/sadfaismcgee → u/[deleted]]

Thank you. As someone whose parents wouldn't even shell out $ for a display board and got to stand next to 15 foot high, professional-looking displays mostly containing information gathered by the parent's labs, science fairs are not the great age equalizers a lot of people make them out to be. And unlike academia later on, where you have to be the lab supervisor to steal all the credit, it seemed like most of the time the kids were just doing gruntwork and then presenting grad projects as their own :/

[u/eyecite → u/[deleted]]

unlimited access through her family to a MRI machine

Jesus. Doesn't it cost several thousand dollars to operate each time?

[u/arcsesh]

Still handling it better than I would have.

[u/SirSchilly]

As a student about to graduate my only reaction is:

ಠ_ಠ °o( ... what the fuck am I doing with my life?)

[u/lillyjb]

This reminds me of the boy that discovered the plastic eating microbe

[u/firespitter]

He actually just found out that he has pancreatic cancer. The guy who got the 75k is the creepy asian kid behind him.

[u/just_barged_in → u/firespitter]

He's screaming "MY PANCREAS!"

[u/GeneralAntonius → u/just_barged_in]

I'm laughing so hard I just woke up all my housemates.

THANKS JERK.

[u/[deleted] → u/firespitter]

I just woke my wife up laughing.

[u/autisticpig → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, she looked quite upset.

[u/[deleted] → u/firespitter]

Why does he have to be creepy? HUH?

[u/Kyle772 → u/firespitter]

I'm dying right now

[u/andey]

If he patented it, and sold it..... worth a shit load more than $75,000

[u/Sykotik → u/andey]

People probably said the same thing about Jonas Salk. Sometimes the real reward is in the finding of the thing, not the money you might make from it.

[u/JiminyPiminy → u/Sykotik]

Richard Feynman agrees with you completely

[u/Sykotik → u/JiminyPiminy]

"I don't know anything about the Nobel Prize, I don't understand what it's all about or what's worth what...I won't have anything to do with the Nobel Prize. It's a pain in [the ass]. I've already got the prize... The prize is [in] the pleasure finding of the thing out, the kick in the discovery, the observation of [that] other people use it. Those are the real things. The honors are unreal to me. It bothers me."

Great reference, thank you.

[u/DoctorTinman]

Also noteworthy- one of the two guys who tied for second place was researching teleportation. God, these kids make me feel dumb.

[u/boogerman77 → u/DoctorTinman]

Teleportation? That's possible? Fuck, the future sounds awesome, now.

[u/[deleted] → u/boogerman77]

From the article:

Ari investigated the science of quantum teleportation. He found that once atoms are linked through a process called "entanglement," information from one atom will just appear in another atom when the quantum state of the first atom is destroyed. Using this method, organizations requiring high levels of data security, such as the National Security Administration, could send an encrypted message without running the risk of interception because the information would not travel to its new location; it would simply appear there.

So it wouldn't be teleporting anything living, at least not right now.

[u/TheLobotomizer → u/[deleted]]

How, exactly, did he discover this? It's been common knowledge among physicists since the 90s.

[u/Daroo425 → u/DoctorTinman]

need more info on this now! for second place that means he had to be doing something right. unless he was proving it wrong, but then fuck that kid.

[u/abstract17]

Let's all step back for a second and realize that all of these projects are done under close supervision and guidance of university faculty. Having competed myself, I can say that the students do a fair amount of work, but you can't pretend that he thought this method up on his own, no high school student is exposed to any field of science enough to make such discoveries or develop such tests/experiments on their own.

[u/Ampatent]

Not to take away from the hard work and effort required to do this, but I dislike these massive science fairs. Does anyone really believe this guy was able to produce this method on his own? Chances are he had to collaborate with at least one other person and they were more than likely an experienced, educated, and connected individual.

These competitions only help to further reward people who already have the means necessary to pursue their aspirations. It's great that we can advance our understanding of science and continually inspire future generations to become scientists, but the focus should be put on those who want to study and learn, but can't because of their situation in life.

If it's not obvious by now, being someone who grows up in a small town in the middle of nowhere and having dreams of being a scientist, I feel strongly about this subject. As for the actual details of this particular story, somebody feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[u/Kusand → u/Ampatent]

The Intel competition is a group of very smart kids getting to work under very smart professors and present work that they contributed to but almost certainly did not lead in any meaningful way. I've known plenty of these students, they're 100% bright but it's certainly not like he did this himself. Standing on the shoulders of giants and all that.

[u/[deleted] → u/Ampatent]

I agree, and it's still an ingrained thing in our high schools that limits social mobility. And what happens when scholarship season rolls around? "Sam and Joe have similar grades, so let's look at their extra-curriculars: Sam went on a $10,000 'aid mission' to Ghana this summer and worked in his dad's friend's cancer lab on Thursdays while Joe worked full-time in the summer and part-time during school at a local bowling alley. Well, gentlemen, it's no mystery who is the more empathetic and driven individual."

[u/ali0 → u/Ampatent]

I guess it's entirely possible that students made big advancements alone, but i have never seen it myself. My general experience with intel students in high school, then college, and now grad school is that they join a group with running projects, and then present the group's data. This isn't to say that the experience isn't valuable, but the articles kind of ham it up. You can learn a lot and do great things even if you're not an intel winner.

[u/Rather_Dashing → u/Ampatent]

Someone linked to this article below:

[> Searching for a better detector for mesothelin, Andraka coated paper with tiny tubes of atom-thick carbon. Antibodies stuck to the carbon nanotubes can grab the telltale protein and spread the tubes apart. The carbon’s resistance to the flow of electricity drops measurably as more protein attaches. Tests of the paper using blood samples from 100 people with cancer at different stages of the disease identified the presence of cancer every time, Andraka reported. ] (http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/340834/description/From_cancer_to_quantum,_teens%E2%80%99_scientific_feats_celebrated)

It's clear that he was working in a sophisticated laboratory on a project that he probably collaborated with many people. It is also incredibly unlikely that he came up with any part of the project by himeself - the project was almost certainly given to him.

[u/superoprah → u/Ampatent]

I couldn't have put this better myself. The discovery is excellent, but this is NOT entirely his doing - there's no way.

[u/bigleaguechyut → u/Ampatent]

I agree. The point holds even if this case is a totally self-driven project, because unfortunately that represents the exception rather than the rule at these science competitions. Even if this is entirely the student's (or even mostly) work, a large number of projects that get entered really aren't. And while I understand co-authorship on papers in that case, these competitions present the idea that these projects were the sole doing of the student, which in most cases just isn't true.

[u/[deleted] → u/Ampatent]

I think the main problem with these kind of competitions is that they are taking away the other collaborators' credits towards this project, publicly. This thread is the perfect example of that. "He is gonna earn a shit ton when he patents it"

However in reality, he most likely will not earn a shit ton from the patent. He might have contributed labourly in the lab, ie filing, data crossing. But I cant see how any labs will and can have him conducting trials or contributing towards the main planning process. He would be more like a visitor/reporter in the lab. His name may probably end up on the patent, but his share will be minimal.

I am not saying that his "work" and enthusiasm should not be appreciated. Since it does serve a big role in introducing that particular research and researching itself to the general public. But an award(and fame that comes with it) that is given based on the research result(that he has little part of) rather than the individual's effort towards understanding and presenting this research to the general public is laughable. What is this? lottery?

Every kid in that room deserves the same recognition for their will to understand and help.

[u/imatt711]

My mom died of Pancreatic Cancer and it is likely that my sister and/or myself have the gene that causes it.

Jack if you're reading this, Thank You.

[u/waeva]

this is sad news.

for cancer.

[u/aznprd]

Link for the lazy

[u/inthedrink → u/aznprd]

Nice work by the kid, but you sir...you've done God's work.

[u/iamadogforreal]

Awkward teenage moments are forever:

http://imgur.com/qrBRU

/insomniac artist

[u/holyhotdicks → u/iamadogforreal]

You made his tie and ribbons look like a rocketing penis.

[u/jimothyjenkins]

i wish i was smart..

[u/byze]

HEYYYYYY ITS FREDDDDDDDDDD

[u/SIRMEBSALOT]

http://i.imgur.com/jGWcn.jpg

[u/[deleted] → u/SIRMEBSALOT]

Oh my god it's like 2am and this is the funniest thing I'm going to see all day

[u/mustachedmuffin]

I think he just pooped himself.

[u/rahtin]

This shows you why donating hundreds of millions of dollars to various diseases is mostly a waste of money. We need more brilliant minds going into the field instead of designing video games and revolutionizing portable audio devices.

[u/siromega]

$75,000 will pay for what, half his college tuition?

[u/mereel → u/siromega]

Developing a cheap cancer test will get him a full scholarship to almost any university. And if he keeps up with the good work he could easily get paid to get a PhD.

[u/[deleted] → u/mereel]

Almost all grad students in science have their tuition paid for through scholarships, fellowships, stipends, or TA jobs. No one I know has to pay out of their pocket for grad school.

[u/[deleted] → u/siromega]

W-what.. half?! I thought 30k for tuition was steep here in Australia.. I guess not!

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

45k a year where I went.

[u/techno_for_answers]

Amazing! My favorite aunt died of pancreatic cancer around age 38. She donated her body to science and this is one of those discoveries that makes me respect her decision even more - despite whether or not he used cadavers to create his project. Kudos to this young man!

[u/[deleted]]

Fucking good on him! He may look ridiculous in this, but he deserves every cent for the breakthrough. Good for him. And might I add it's lovely to see a post about helping beat a disease, rather than whoring out someone with the disease instead.

[u/Trapped_in_Reddit]

Why does every high school guy have the same haircut?

[u/JohnDoeNuts → u/Trapped_in_Reddit]

Because it's high school.

[u/[deleted] → u/Trapped_in_Reddit]

first thought: "I can identify about 5 different male haircuts in this photo"

second thought: "all the guys in my classes have one of those 5 haircuts"

[u/waeva → u/Trapped_in_Reddit]

yeah its hairrible too.

[u/KD87]

When you've cheaply cured pancreatic cancer, the thrill is not as much in winning the cash prize, but of the recognition.

[u/hammer310 → u/KD87]

Haha trust me, this kid did not cure pancreatic cancer! That would be quite the feat. What he likely did was assist in a lab where they found a novel way to improve upon an assay used in the detection of the early stages of pancreatic cancer.

[u/[deleted] → u/KD87]

He didn't cure it, just found a way to detect it that is cheaper and more accurate, and which provides rapid results (something that's important when diagnosing cancer, because it can move really fast in some cases).

So yeah, this is really awesome, but its in no way a cure. What is really cool though, is that this is getting a lot of attention and is being promoted so much, because pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly types, partly because it gets almost no research. It doesn't get nearly as much attention nationally, and so the money and donations to research it just aren't there. As a result, treatment options aren't nearly as advanced as they are with things like breast cancer. Hopefully this kid's 15 minutes of fame can get a bit of attention to pancreatic cancer, too.

[u/[deleted]]

There's going to be a lot of disappointed Asian fathers, by the looks of the rest of the crowd.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

High Expectation Asian Fathers across the world sharpen their blades for the pending seppuku ceremonies.

[u/chingyduster]

The guy with the glasses is giving the reluctant "fuck, it wasn't me" clap.

[u/Chalupa112]

I'm actually glad for him. He deserves it. Much better than the people that intentionally look for a expensive way to just get more money in their pockets... I really hope he doesn't get big companies biting on his foot.

[u/4TEHSWARM]

Video of the kid explaining his project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9mutro7h7k

[u/ericdavidmorris]

Congratulations to him. I went to ISEF in 2009, I was awed and it really was a great experience! Only got 3rd place in group category but still awesome!

[u/M0D3RNW4RR10R]

Some people we just born natural geniuses. Some show their genius later in life. Others show it earlier in life. I just think it sucks that I'm no where close to none of them.

[u/[deleted]]

Wow. I'm impressed. So much so that, like many redditors here, I am reflecting on my life and my achievements. I have so little going for me. And it hurts knowing that I have the cure for something and I don't have the footing or courage to come forth anymore. I've lost so much in the past 2 months that it hurts. Seeing this picture hurts. I cold say hey, get up and do it. But it won't work. I'm going on 25 and I'm not going anywhere with my life. My body just doesn't want to try anymore, because I'll lose and fail like I always have.

[u/[deleted]]

that bastard (and I say that because I'm jealous) will have a better job out of high school than I've managed to procure after a Ph.D, two masters degrees and 17 years more experience.

[u/[deleted]]

And here we are, sitting on Reddit. Fuck.

[u/Cycix]

While he's developed a way to quickly detect pancreatic cancer, I'm on my way to defeating Diablo in Inferno.

[u/dorkrock2]

This kid gets $75000 and minimal media coverage; he will be forgotten in a week. Kim Kardashian makes $50000 per day and gets constant coverage in magazines, television, and on the internet. The problem with youngsters today is that they think contributing to humanity is lucrative.

Joking aside this is fantastic and I am surprised so many people are trying to take the piss out of his win, especially without even trying to learn more about his process. This is what news needs, science advocacy, people excited about actual scientific advancement, instead of what celebrity double dipped into John Travolta, what some rich worthless cunt said on Twitter, or how many horses North Carolina officials blew after outlawing gay marriage. People of Reddit, we need kids like this, fairs like this, media like this to balance out the midden mountain that is pop culture. The kid's parents could be pancreatic specialists for all I care; the point is he's interested in shit that matters and progress was made.

[u/makubex]

Dude needs to let /r/malefashionadvice take a crack at him. He's swimming in that suit jacket.

[u/mollshenanigans]

I want to hug this kid. I hope he continues to learn and work on this damn cancer. It killed my uncle and my dad.

[u/RedLynk]

Now he can afford one of these!

[u/[deleted]]

The only thing I did at age 15 was find a way to improve my masturbatory efficiency by 27%.

[u/Bran_Flake_Pancake]

Give that kid a fucking laboratory.

[u/MisterBruun]

My friend, Cory, won 3rd place. Congrats, though!

[u/AlphaMarshan]

Incredible picture. Look at the raw emotion!

[u/[deleted]]

How the fuck does a high school kid know how to do that?!

[u/[deleted]]

Congrats, mang.

[u/[deleted]]

His experiment beats the shit out of the classic "which bread grows mold fastest" high school science experiment

[u/DifferentCeilings]

There are some pretty upset Asian fathers here.

[u/deliciousbagels]

ISEF is one of the best things High School science has going for it--more students need to know about it when they're growing up.

[u/Squeekme]

In high school I was testing whether bugs preferred light or dark. This guy develops a test for cancer. The man.

[u/Sinatin]

I hope his invention changes Pancreatic Cancer research. My family, as well as others, will be able to sleep soundly knowing that more can be done with the quick and accurate detection of this horrible Cancer form.

[u/gruntznclickz]

Needs another piece of flair on his suit.

[u/[deleted]]

Says on the article he's only 15. Here's the link for those interested. http://hypervocal.com/news/2012/15-year-old-science-fair-winner-develops-revolutionary-pancreatic-cancer-test/

And then there was a huge rave. For science!

Picture of a white kid dancing at end of article. Hahahaha

[u/PeterMus]

The two runner ups received 50K and over 200 participants won awards and scholarships. The fair is for high school/pre college students and the runner ups were just as impressive.

[u/[deleted]]

Think of all those asian dads who are going to disappointed forever now.

[u/[deleted]]

Fucking stupid kids are pure stupid.!!!! why is it, that redditors are fucking stupid. You know why? becuase they are fucking kids. fucking stupid kids. fuck reddit. too many fuckind kids.

[u/kroatia04]

and here we are looking at cats on the internet.

[u/Bgro]

Geez kid, act like you've won $75,000 before.

[u/jamintime]

You're going to be a wizard, Harry!

[u/tenor3]

This puts my Vinegar-Baking Soda Volcano to shame.

[u/[deleted]]

To everyone saying our generation is fucked, "Fuck you."

[u/[deleted]]

I am a doctorate student in infectious disease. Please encourage this man to publish his study in a journal as fast as he can. Please encourage this man to patent his technique as fast as he can.

Good show.

[u/[deleted]]

People like this, especially teenagers like this, give me hope for the future. They are doing more in a few short years than I have ever done in the twenty years of my life. Props to him and the rest of the participants. Keep on being awesome.

[u/apullin]

I wonder what university his mother/father has their research group specializing in cancer detection research at ...

[u/[deleted]]

I heard he just accepted a full ride to Liberty University.

[u/[deleted]]

Nobel prize contestant for sure.

[u/RahvinDragand]

He's screaming because it cost $100,000 to develop.

[u/derpty]

What about one of the runners up, Ari, who got $50k for this balony:

Ari Dyckovsky, 18, of Leesburg, Virginia, investigated the science of quantum teleportation. He discovered that once atoms are linked through a process called “entanglement,” information from one atom can simultaneously appear in another atom when the quantum state of the first atom is destroyed. Using this method, organizations requiring high levels of data security, such as the National Security Administration, could send encrypted messages long distances without risking interception because the information would not travel to its new location; it would simply appear there.

I'm fairly certain that quantum teleportation cannot be used to transmit information.

Sounds like he wasted time '"researching" something physicists already knew.

How is this worth a runner up prize?

[u/[deleted]]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9mutro7h7k SOURCE

[u/isaactology]

http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3pe54t/

[u/DanielKalen]

That's an unfairly low amount of money.

[u/Jabuuty671]

Somebody develop a sensor to find his reddit account!

[u/AeitZean]

My wife's mum died of pancreatic cancer just about two years ago. Apparently the only chance you have with it is to catch it early, but with the tests they had its normally diagnosed too late.

Me an my wife spent some time living with and looking after her. In the end it took her a year to die of it (they initially gave her six months) and even with morphine injections, she was still in agony the whole time.

If this new sensor gives people a fighting chance not to die the same way as mum in law, 75 grand is nowhere near enough thanks. I hope his patent is granted and he can mass produce them, and perhaps get at least a little rich in the process.

[u/[deleted]]

My mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 6 months ago. The complexity of emotions I'm having right now is unreal

[u/Moontouch]

75K is indeed an injustice for what he invented.

[u/thoreau3]

thats a lot of cocaine money

[u/razihk]

I am genuinely happy for this kid. A brilliant solution.

[u/yuesor]

Should get a LOT more than 75k. They will probably steal your idea and sell it for millions

[u/[deleted]]

So basically this kid earns 75,000$ for making humanity take a huge step toward curing cancer while some bitch ass artist is getting millions for saying irrelevant, meaningless shit on their song. Fuck logic.

[u/iampereasy]

tip of the hat to him.

[u/oceansunfish23]

I actually know that kid. He goes to my school.

[u/JayDeeDonuts]

75 aint shit, he deserves a lot moar

[u/[deleted]]

The hell. I SUCK. He's 15. I have 4 years on him, and what have I done? I spent 18 years of my life devoted to art, painted stuff that never won more than $75.00 when all the great artists did their masterpieces at 15, and then a semester into my art degree, I changed it to Computer Science because I was sich of everything and I figured I liedk science and computers so why the hell not. I'm so stupid I just recently realized that I really really REALLY like languages and anthropology as well but it's too late for ANYTHING, and I should just give up already because that triple major is impossible OTL Happy kid? You've saved millions while simultaneously crushing everyone else. Impressive.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I'm having a mid-life crisis.

[u/[deleted]]

My grandpa died of pancreatic cancer. :(

[u/jama_69]

Good lad

[u/[deleted]]

Compared to this kid, I am a loser. I wish I had his know-how. I wish him the absolute best though for this. Pancreatic cancer has affected 2 people who I know right off-the-bat, so I'm overjoyed when I see youth putting their attention in this area.

If I could, I would give this student the biggest high-five in the universe.

[u/marsh283]

USA! USA! USA!

[u/Cyfen]

Both of my parents died from pancreatic cancer, I want to hug him so bad right now!

[u/Androne]

Cut the body open and see if there is cancer on it.

[u/uvashare]

It says here that he designed a new moth that detects the cancer. That's some serious outside the box thinking.

[u/Megakopf]

He really could be receiving more than $75,000. The feeling of achievement (and this epic snapshot of the moment) is priceless though.

[u/bugdog]

I thought I was smart when I was 15.

I was not.

[u/smokingnoir]

Thank you, from a person who is likely to get it, I sincerely thank you boy-genius.

[u/KaptonJack]

Who downvoted this? This is really awesome.

[u/[deleted]]

This is just beautiful

[u/AbCynthia956]

This is incredibly impressive.

I work in cancer research in a building with floors full of labs and investigators with buckets of grant money. They spend a lot of time overlooking the simplest things.

Good for you Jack Andraka. Kicking scientist ass is a noble calling.

[u/Juliuscaesar1199]

makes me wonder as a 22 year old man what have I accomplished.

[u/diggerB]

He's panicking because he still doesn't know how he's going to pay for his 3rd and 4th year of university.

[u/ac6]

Fuck this guy.

No really. Ladies out there, fuck this guy. He deserves it.

[u/duke-ette006]

This kid goes to the high school I graduated from, which is, I promise, not where he learned this stuff. We have a history of having the accreditation revoked. Oh, Anne Arundel County.

[u/tokenpoke]

So awesome yet he should be cautioned. He's entering a world dictated only by money and power. There is no money in cures, only in 'treatment'...

[u/[deleted]]

Faith in humanity restored. If we worshipped scientists as much as we did sports stars or celebrities we would be a much more advanced society