Two Indian origin girls win Top prizes at Google Science Fair
StraightDrive
Despite being less than 2% of US population, two Indian origin girls Shree
Bose and Naomi Shah won top prizes at Google Science Fair.......
Well Done......
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http://abcnews.go.com/US/girls-top-honors-google-science-fair/story?id=14072090
Teenage Cancer Researcher Wins Top Prize at Google Science Fair
Shree Bose of Fort Worth, Tex., won a $50,000 scholarship and a trip to the
Galapagos
By John Matson | July 12, 2011 | 1
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.-A high-school student from Fort Worth, Texas, won top
honors July 11 at the first annual Google Science Fair for her project on
drug resistance in ovarian cancer. Shree Bose, 17, investigated the
connection between an enzyme called AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and
resistance to the chemotherapy drug cisplatin.
Bose inhibited the activity of AMPK to see how it affected the death of
cancer cells. She found that inhibiting AMPK in cells produced two different
reactions to cisplatin, depending on whether or not the cells were resistant
to the drug. Inhibiting AMPK reduced cell death in regular cancer cells
treated with cisplatin, but the inhibitor actually boosted the
cancer-killing effects of cisplatin in cells that were resistant to the
drug. "Since there's such a shift in what this inhibitor does, all our
evidence suggests that there's some sort of shift in what the activity
does," Bose said after being awarded the grand prize here at Google
headquarters. "This tells us that this protein might be changing roles or it
might be playing a role in cancer cells becoming resistant."
Bose attends Fort Worth Country Day School, where she will be a senior in
the fall. But her project was carried out at the University of North Texas
Health Science Center, where she found a mentor in Alakananda Basu, a
professor of molecular biology and immunology there.
As the contest's grand prize winner, Bose will receive a $50,000 scholarship
from Google, a trip to the Galapagos Islands and other prizes. She will also
take home two Lego trophies (Lego was another partner in the event), one for
the grand prize and one for winning her age group of 17-18 years old. The
winners of the other age groups were Naomi Shah, 16, of Portland, Ore.
(15-16 age group); and Lauren Hodge, 14, of York, Pa. (13-14 age group).
Shah looked at the connection between airborne pollutants and respiratory
disease, and Hodge tested the effects of various marinades on the formation
of carcinogens in grilled chicken. Shah and Hodge will each receive $25,000
scholarships.
Bose says she became interested in cancer research after a death in the
family. "Two summers ago, actually, my grandfather passed away from cancer,"
Bose said. "And after that-I had already known I wanted to do research, but
I didn't know what field-and that kind of decided it for me. I knew I wanted
to go into cancer research." Then, one day, she saw a link on the Google
home page for the company's first online science fair, which ultimately drew
some 7,500 entries from 91 countries. (Scientific American partnered in the
event, and Editor in chief Mariette DiChristina served as a judge.) For
Bose, a veteran of local science fairs, it seemed a good fit: "I thought,
well, I love Google and I love science fairs, so maybe this could work for
me."