ISEF: results of the competition
A student has developed a program that studies gene mutations
The competition was held in Los Angeles, USA, from May 11 to May 16, 2014.
Every year, about 7 million high school students from all over the world submit their original research to participate in the Intel competition.
This year, more than 1,700 young scientists from 70 countries were invited to the week of the "holiday of science, technology, engineering and mathematics".
As a result, more than 500 finalists were rewarded for their research and development. Among them, the 17 best participants in their categories received $5,000 each (172.5 thousand rubles), and the two semi−finalists received $50,000 (1.72 million rubles).
The main prize of $75 thousand (2.6 million rubles) was awarded to a 15-year-old American schoolboy Nathan Han. He has developed software that studies gene mutations associated with the appearance of breast cancer.
The program studies the characteristics of various mutations of the BRCA1 gene that contribute to DNA damage and uncontrolled cell reproduction (it was because of them that Angelina Jolie removed both mammary glands). The software created by the student is also able to distinguish mutations that cause diseases from ordinary ones with an accuracy of up to 81%.
Other winners of the competition include high school students who have developed an electrocatalyst made of Chinese eggplant for batteries of the future, and an application that allows you to manually draw lines and geometric shapes and transform them into shapes and equations.
The judges of the competition were 1,200 scientists with a PhD degree or at least six years of professional scientific experience. In total, more than 5 million US dollars (173.7 million rubles) were distributed for awards.
"The world needs not only scientists, but also a large number of organizations and entrepreneurs who will provide jobs and an economic base to solve pressing global problems," comments Wendy Hawkins, executive director of the Intel Charitable Foundation. –Our corporation believes that young people are the key to innovation, and we hope that the current winners will inspire more students and schoolchildren to learn science, technology, engineering, mathematics and technology."
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru22.005.2014