Ontario student, 16, invents disease-fighting, anti-aging compound using tree particles

Janelle Tam, of Waterloo, Ont. receives the first place prize of $5,000 from Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, and Mark Lievonen, president of Sanoifi Pasteur Limited.

Grade 12 researcher wins top honours in Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada finals at National Research Council, Ottawa

Janelle Tam, a Grade 12 student at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, was awarded the $5,000 first prize by an impressed panel of eminent Canadian scientists assembled at the Ottawa headquarters of the National Research Council of Canada.

Thirteen brilliant students, all just 16 to 18 years old, took part in the national finals. They were top prize winners of nine regional SBCC competitions conducted nationwide in March and April, events that showcased youthful Canadian talent in the fast-growing field of biotech science.

The theme of the competition, “How will you change the world?” inspired hundreds of students to participate in 2012 SBCC events Canada-wide.

2nd place ($4,000) was awarded to Rui Song, 16, a Grade 11 student from Walter Murray Collegiate, Saskatoon, for developing new insights into the potential creation of a more nutritious lentil. Project profile: http://bit.ly/IrvD9I

3rd place ($3,000) went to Alexander Tigert and Zelun (Daniel) Zhang, both 17, Grade 12, Northern Secondary School, who used genetically-modified Baker’s yeast to create a novel environment for testing the effects of drug treatments for depression and anxiety. Project profile: http://bit.ly/IjfNoa

4th place ($2,000) went to Ella Thomson, 16, Grade 11, Balmoral Hall School, Winnipeg, who genetically modified a common soil bacteria to produce 36% more volume of the bio-ingredient used to make eco-friendly plastic. Project profile: http://bit.ly/IAd0Vn

5th place ($1,000) was awarded to Romina Hassanzadeh, 17, Grade 12, All Saints Catholic High School, Kanata, who puzzled out a new insight into the workings of a cancer-fighting drug, a discovery that could one day impact medical approaches to cancer treatment. Project profile: http://bit.ly/ICpjzR

A special $1,000 prize for the project deemed to have the greatest commercial potential was awarded to Miranda Wang, 18, and Jeanny Yao, 17, both Grade 12, Magee Secondary School, Vancouver, who identified soil bacteria from the Fraser River estuary that naturally break down phthalates, a fossil fuel-based additive found in some plastics. The girls have already approached firms in BC and Ontario on potential commercialization ideas. Project profile: http://bit.ly/Jdt1vY

Honorable mention prizes of $500 were awarded to:
Nikola Viktorov and Andy Le, 16, Grade 11, from Old Scona Academic High School, Edmonton, who lit a potential path to the development of drugs that more effectively target diseased cells, creating a tool to help monitor the death of cells in lymphoma cancer. Project profile: http://bit.ly/Ife01i

Jared Trask, 17 and Kaitlyn Stockley, 16, Grade 11 students at Holy Spirit High School, Conception Bay West, NF, who used a centrifuge, chemicals and high frequency sound waves to extract a bio-fuel oil from local-obtained cold environment algae. Project profile: http://bit.ly/KsVbsM

Nivatha Balendra, 16, Grade 11, from Royal West Academy, Montreal, who found Isopropanol to be the better alcohol to use in hand sanitizers because it kills more bacteria and fewer skin cells than ethanol, the more common ingredient in such products. Project profile: http://bit.ly/JqbZiG

The students’ national winnings add to those awarded in the regional competitions. In some cities, regional winners also receive university scholarships and/or summer jobs.

The Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources Skills Development Canada and keynote speaker at the awards ceremony, said: “Our government’s top priority is job creation, and economic growth and we recognize that as the future workforce, young Canadians have much to contribute to our country’s long term prosperity. We proudly support the BioGENEius Challenge as an excellent way to inspire young people to explore rewarding careers in high demand fields.”

Sanofi Pasteur Canada President Mark Lievonen, who presented the first place prize, said: “When we founded the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada 19 years ago we believed then, as we do now, in the potential of our youth to develop the next big breakthrough in science. When I see the collaboration among education, government and industry at the SBCC each year, I am increasingly optimistic about Canada’s opportunity to truly make a difference in the world.”

Now in its 19th year, the SBCC gives young scientists access to university labs and academic mentors, encouraging the pursuit of future studies and careers in the country’s fast-growing biotechnology sector. This year, more than 240 high school and CEGEP students across Canada submitted192 projects that ranged from exploring potential new drug treatments for Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and cancer to using mold fungi as an alternative to traditional pesticides.

Each of the students worked for months conducting research and collaborating with university mentors.

Janelle Tam worked alongside Dr. Zhaoling Yao from the University of Waterloo and is the first to show that nano-crystalline cellulose (NCC) is a powerful antioxidant, and may be superior to Vitamin C or E because it is more stable and its effectiveness won’t diminish as quickly.

“NCC is non-toxic, stable, soluble in water and renewable, since it comes from trees. The results of my research were really exciting,” she says and especially since cellulose is already used as filler and stabilizer in many vitamin products. One day those products may be super-charged free radical neutralizers thanks to NCC, she hopes.

Working alongside a young student is not an everyday occurrence, and Dr. Yao was deeply impressed by Janelle’s hardworking, creative thinking, organization and presentation skills. “It was a pleasure to have her in my lab since Janelle is not only a task-orientated young lady, also she also gets along very well with others.”

The nine national finalists presented their projects at NRC headquarters Monday May 7 to a panel of eminent Canadian scientists:

Dr. Luis Barreto (Chief Judge), Senior Advisor, Vaccine Program, Human Health and Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada, and ex-Vice President, Immunization and Science Policy, Sanofi Pasteur Limited;
Dr. Jim Richards, Director General, Vaccine Program, Human Health and Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada;
Dr. Alain Beaudet, President, Canadian Institutes of Health Research;
Dr. Ron Pearlman, Associate Scientific Director, The Gairdner Foundation;
Dr. John Kelly, Vice-President, Erie Innovation and Commercialization, Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Growers’ Association; and
Dr. Alison Symington, Vice President, Outreach, Ontario Genomics Institute.
Also on the judging panel was Marshall Zhang, 18, of Richmond Hill Collegiate, national first-place winner of the SBCC in 2011.

On June 18, Janelle Tam and Rui Song will represent Canada in Boston at the Sanofi-sponsored International BioGENEius Challenge, taking place in conjunction with the BIO Annual International Convention.

The award ceremony at the NRC also included a special presentation honouring the contribution to SBCC of Jeff Graham of Toronto, Chair and President of Bioscience Education Canada, which has coordinated the competition from its beginning in 1994.

About the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada (SBCC)
The Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada (SBCC) is a national, biotechnology research competition that encourages high school and CEGEP students to pursue future studies and careers in the exciting field of biotechnology. The initiative is sponsored by Sanofi Pasteur Limited, Sanofi Canada, Genome Canada, the National Research Council Canada/ Conseil national de recherches Canada (NRC-CNRC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada (CIHR-IRSC) and the Government of Canada’s Youth Awareness Program. Canada’s respected Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada has inspired counterpart competitions in the USA and Australia.

For more information, please visit sanofibiogeneiuschallenge.ca, follow us on Facebook or Twitter @BioscienceEdCan #SBCC2012.

To read this release in French go to: http://defibiogeneiussanofi.ca/2012/05/08/une-etudiante-ontarienne-de-16-ans-a-cree-un-antioxydant-a-partir-de-nanoparticules-darbres/

Media Contacts:
Terry COLLINS
tc@tca.tc
Tel: 416-878-8712; 416-538-8712

Marnie IVANICH
CASACOM Toronto
mivanich@casacom.ca
Tel: 416-944-2145

Martine VENNE
CASACOM Montréal
mvenne@casacom.ca
Tel: 514-286-2145 ext 228

Canada’s youth bring real-life science innovations to life as nine regional winners head to national competition

SBCC National Awards ceremony:
Tuesday, May 8, 1 pm EDT, National Research Council Headquarters, Ottawa

TORONTO, ON, May 1, 2012 – After months of preparation, research and collaboration with top university mentors, an elite group of 13 high school whiz kids from across the country will be in Ottawa May 7-8 competing for Canada’s ultimate student biotech science prizes in the 2012 Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada (SBCC).

The National SBCC Awards ceremony will be held Tuesday May 8, 1 pm EDT, at the National Research Council Headquarters, Ottawa, with The Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources Skills Development Canada as keynote speaker.

In total, judges chose nine cutting-edge biotechnology research projects from 192 projects presented by almost 250 high school and CEGEP students across Canada. Now in its 19th year, the SBCC gives young scientists access to university labs and academic mentors, encouraging the pursuit of future studies and careers in the country’s fast-growing biotechnology sector.

“Each year, we are impressed by the students’ innovative approaches to a wide variety of biotechnology challenges in health care, agriculture, food production and the environment,” said Rick Levick, Executive Director, Bioscience Education Canada, “The Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada offers them the opportunity to advance their ideas with the support of mentors, a unique feature of this program. It’s our aspiration that this collaboration between industry, government and education will stimulate commercialisation in the biotechnology industry.”

This year’s regional finalists:
• British Columbia: Miranda Wang, 18, and Jeanny Yao, 17, both Grade 12, Magee Secondary School, Vancouver, identified soil bacteria from the Fraser River estuary that naturally break down phthalates, a fossil fuel-based additive found in some plastics. View the project profile.

• Alberta: Nikola Viktorov and Andy Le, 16, Grade 11, from Old Scona Academic High School, Edmonton, lit a potential path to the development of drugs that more effectively target diseased cells, creating a tool to help monitor the death of cells in lymphoma cancer. View the project profile.

• Saskatchewan: Rui (REE) Song, 17, Grade 11, from Walter Murray Collegiate, Saskatoon, developed new scientific insights into the potential creation of a more nutritious lentil. View the project profile.

• Manitoba: Ella Thomson, 16, Grade 11, Balmoral Hall School, Winnipeg, genetically modified a common soil bacteria to produce 36% more volume of the bio-ingredient used to make eco-friendly plastic. View the project profile.

• South Western Ontario: Janelle Tam, 16, Grade 12, from Waterloo Collegiate Institute discovered that a versatile nano-particle in trees is a powerful anti-aging, health-promoting antioxidant – better in some respects than vitamin C or E. View the project profile.

• Greater Toronto: Alexander Tigert and Zelun (Daniel) Zhang, both 17, Grade 12, Northern Secondary School, used genetically-modified Baker’s yeast to create a novel environment for testing the effects drug treatments for depression and anxiety. View the project profile.

• Eastern Ontario: Romina Hassanzadeh, 17, Grade 12, All Saints Catholic High School, Kanata, puzzled out a new insight into the workings of a cancer-fighting drug, a discovery that could one day impact medical approaches to cancer treatment. View the project profile.

• Quebec: Nivatha Balendra, 16, Grade 11, from Royal West Academy, Montreal, found Isopropanol to be the better alcohol to use in hand sanitizers because it kills more bacteria and fewer skin cells than ethanol, the more common ingredient in such products. View the project profile.

• Atlantic Region: Jared Trask, 17 and Kaitlyn Stockley, 16, Grade 11 students at Holy Spirit High School, Conception Bay West, NF, used a centrifuge, chemicals and high frequency sound waves to extract a bio-fuel oil from local-obtained cold environment algae. View the project profile.

The project finalists will be judged Monday May 7 at the Ottawa headquarters of the National Research Council by a panel of pre-eminent Canadian scientists:

Dr. Luis Barreto (Chief Judge), Senior Advisor Vaccine Program, Human Health and Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada, and ex-Vice President, Immunization and Science Policy, Sanofi Pasteur Limited;
Dr. Jim Richards, Director General, Vaccine Program, Human Health and Therapeutics, National Research Council Canada;
Dr. Alain Beaudet, President, Canadian Institutes of Health Research;
Dr. Ron Pearlman, Associate Scientific Director, The Gairdner Foundation; and
Dr. Alison Symington, Vice President, Outreach, Ontario Genomics Institute.

The judge’s panel also includes Toronto’s Marshall Zhang, 18, the 2011 national SBCC first prize winner, now a Grade 12 student at Richmond Hill Collegiate. Last year he used a Canadian supercomputer to discover a potential new treatment for cystic fibrosis. He continues part-time research at Toronto Sick Kid’s hospital and begins studies at Harvard this fall.

In addition to their regional competition winnings, Canada’s 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place national winners will receive $5,000, $4,000, $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 respectively, with $500 prizes for honorable mention. A special $1,000 prize is awarded to the project deemed by the judges to have the greatest commercial value. The top two single person projects advance to the Sanofi-sponsored International BioGENEius Challenge to be held in Boston June 18 in conjunction with the BIO Annual International Convention.

“Sanofi founded the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada because we believe that advancing the potential of our youth to develop the next big breakthrough in science will not only benefit the life sciences industry but Canada as a whole. We have a great pool of talent in this country and it is with initiatives like these that we inspire young students to pursue careers in science and biotechnology,” said Mark Lievonen, President, Sanofi Pasteur Limited.

About the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada (SBCC)
The Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada (SBCC) is a national, biotechnology research competition that encourages high school and CEGEP students to pursue future studies and careers in the exciting field of biotechnology. Coordinated by Bioscience Education Canada since its beginning in 1994, the initiative is sponsored by Sanofi Pasteur Limited, Sanofi Canada, Genome Canada, the National Research Council Canada/ Conseil national de recherches Canada (NRC-CNRC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada (CIHR-IRSC) and the Government of Canada’s Youth Awareness Program. Canada’s respected Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada has inspired counterpart competitions in the USA and Australia.

Media Contacts:
Terry COLLINS
tc@tca.tc
Tel: 416-878-8712; 416-538-8712

Marnie IVANICH
CASACOM Toronto
mivanich@casacom.ca
Tel: 416-944-2145

Martine VENNE
CASACOM Montréal
mvenne@casacom.ca
Tel: 514-286-2145 ext 228

Atlantic, Newfoundland students bring bio-fuel in from the cold

Given all the negatives surrounding fossil fuels it’s not surprising that so many researchers are pursuing alternative sources of energy to power homes, cars and industry.

Count Jared Trask, 17 and Kaitlyn Stockley, 16 among them. They’re Grade 11 students at Holy Spirit High School in Conception Bay South, near St. John’s in Newfoundland, and they processed bio-fuel from algae — the scummy green substance found wherever there is water.

“We collected a local algae from a nearby spring,” says Jared, “and we grew the algae for 69 days using the ambient heat from the fireplace in my house.”

Compared to the tropical environments of other algae research this qualifies as “cold” growing.

Dr. Kelly Hawboldt, a Professor of Process Engineering at Memorial University the pair’s co-mentor, says cold growth of locally-obtained algae and the extraction methods made this a groundbreaking project.

After they grew the algae, they removed the water by centrifuge and then extracted the oil. One extraction method involved using high frequency sound waves to break down the cell walls of the algae and release the oil. The other was to extract it chemically using hexane.

Though the amount of oil they produced was small, it was an important first step. “They wanted to find out if they could grow native algae in cold temperatures, if they could extract some oil and what the qualities of the oil would be,” said Dr. Hawboldt.

Says their other mentor, Dr. Bob Helleur, a Professor of Chemistry at Memorial U.: “Their experimental design is ready to be used by other people to test other algae to see if the amount of oil can be brought up to commercially-viable levels.”

For Kaitlyn the possibility is an exciting and satisfying one.

“Both Jared and I feel that it is important to Newfoundland and Labrador that we showed that bio-fuels can be extracted from native algae in an ecologically-sound way.”

Eastern Ontario, Student puzzles out new insight into the workings of a cancer-fighting drug

Explaining her choice of a research topic for her Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge entry, 17-year-old Ottawa-area student Romina Hassanzadeh says cancer recently touched her personally when her mom’s aunt died of breast cancer. She resolved to help fight the disease.

The Grade 12 researcher from Kanata’s All Saints Catholic High School puzzled together several pieces of information to reveal an intriguing new picture.

Puzzle piece one: Cancer cells often contain an overabundance of HIF1alpha (hypoxia induced factor-1 alpha), a protein regularly fingered as the culprit when cancer therapy is less effective than expected.

Puzzle piece two: Successful treatments of prostate cancer often results in reduced activity of HIF1alpha.

Puzzle piece three: On the ends of chromosomes are protective caps called telomeres, that function like tips at the end of a shoelace to prevent fraying. As people age, telomeres get shorter and shorter until the protection is lost and cells die.

Puzzle piece four: Telomerase enzymes can prevent and even reverse the deterioration of the telomeres ‘caps’. A key to cancer’s success is it hijacks the normal cell process to produce lots of telomerase enzyme, thereby enabling cancerous cells to multiply abundantly with telomere ‘cap’ protection.

Puzzle piece five: A recent study with mice cells showed lower levels of HIF1alpha protein coincided with lower production of telomerase enzymes.

That was the “aha moment.” Romina set out to treat breast cancer cells with a drug called echinomycin known to prevent the production of the HIF1alpha protein and study the impact, if any, on telomerase enzyme production.

After intense lab work, she made the key finding that human breast cancer cells treated with echinomycin had substantially lower levels of telomerase enzymes. This novel insight could one day impact medical approaches to cancer treatment.

“Romina’s results are preliminary but offer new understanding of how this drug might work,” says mentor Dr. Ian Lorimer, Senior Scientist, Cancer Therapeutics, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Associate Professor, University of Ottawa.

Romina says finding the time to do school and lab work was difficult but “(the SBCC) has been a wonderful experience; I highly recommend it to any student who’s interested in science.”

Manitoba, Winnipeg teen modifies soil bacteria to yield 36% more volume of ingredient for eco-friendly bio-plastic

The end of cheap oil also means the end of low-cost plastics. So, a Winnipeg student’s method to make a low-cost bio-plastic could be a very timely discovery.

Nearly all plastics today are derived from petroleum and “there is an urgent need to find alternatives,” says 16-year old Ella Thomson, a Grade 11 student at Winnipeg’s Balmoral Hall School.

Ella genetically engineered a common soil bacteria (Pseudomonas putida) to produce on average 36 per cent more biopolymers (plastic fibres made by living things) than usual. These bio-polymers have been used to make bio-plastics before but Ella’s work opens a potential door to making these eco-friendly plastics more economically, she says.

Animals (including humans) store extra energy as fat, whereas some soil bacteria store energy in the form of polymers to tide them over when nutrients are scarce, Ella explains. To boost the bacteria’s polymer content, she used sophisticated genetic engineering tools to “knock out” a gene that regulates and limits its production.

Ella took time off high school to conduct her trials at the University of Manitoba and finally got a solid lab result, which involved about 1,000 modified and control bacteria samples.

“I spent a lot time learning about all the new techniques and ideas,” she says. “I was surprised to learn how complex the processes of such a simple bacteria are.”

There is a compelling environmental need for bio-plastics since non-degradable petroleum-based plastic bags clutter waterways, sewers, landfills, wetlands, agricultural fields and elsewhere, notes Ella’s mentor, David Levin, Associate Professor at the University of Manitoba.

“Ella’s work illustrates how molecular biology and genetic engineering can be used to increase the yield of the biopolymers,” says Levin. “She has great potential to excel in whatever she decides to do with her life.”

While Ella has always liked science, she says her SBCC lab experiences have created a passionate interest for a research career.

British Columbia, Plastic pollution-eating bacteria

Miranda Wang (left) and Jeanny Yao (centre) receive their first place award as regional winners of the 2012 Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada competition from Vancouver South MP Wai Young

SBCC Winners 2 – Miranda Wang (left) and Jeanny Yao (centre) receive their first place award as regional winners of the 2012 Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada competition from Vancouver South MP Wai Young

The high percentage of plastic at a waste transfer station last summer caught the eye and the concern of two young visiting Vancouverites, Miranda Wang, 18, and Jeanny Yao, 17.

They became particularly interested in phthalates – an additive that makes plastic durable and flexible for use in a wide range of consumer products, from baby bottles to food wrap. The additive can eventually separate from the plastic and leach into the environment.

“Indian and Chinese research has shown that certain bacteria can biodegrade phthalates and we were interested to see if we could find bacteria in soil from the banks of the Fraser River estuary that would do the same thing,” says Miranda.

They also wanted to see if these bacteria occur more in polluted or pristine environments.

Mentored by Dr Lindsay Eltis at the University of British Columbia, Miranda and Jeanny, Grade 12 students at Vancouver’s Magee Secondary School, tackled the problem in three stages.

First, they collected both clean and polluted soil, grew cultures using phthalates as the only food source and isolated the different strains of bacteria. Then they identified the common bacteria in the lab by sequencing the genes and finally tested for enzyme reaction. The results were very positive and showed that the bacterial strains they identified from the “clean” site could be used to decompose phthalates.

“Bacteria are the ultimate garbage incinerators,” said Dr. Eltis, “Soils contain huge numbers of bacteria, which are essential to life on our planet.” Miranda and Jeanny’s SBCC project adds to a growing body of research into the use of common bacteria to “eat” pollutants of all kinds.

“The next logical step would be a longer-term project to see if Jeanny and Miranda could isolate bacteria which can break down more challenging and recalcitrant plastics and plastic compounds,” said Dr Eltis. “At that point there would be very definite commercial applications.”

The four month SBCC project involved 10 hours a week in the lab, but both girls consider it time well and enjoyably spent. “Dr. Eltis and the grad students we were working with, James Round and Adam Crowe, were amazing,” says Jeanny.

Both girls are taking the maximum load of science courses and plan to continue their studies after they graduate.

Alberta, Lighting a way to better treatments of cancer and other diseases

Andy Le and Nikola Viktorov, 1st Place Alberta

Ms Carmen Wyton of Sanofi presenting the award to the 1st place team from the Edmonton regional SBCC, Nikola Viktorov and Andy Le. April 18, 2012 Lister Centre, University of Alberta

New ways to develop better medications for cancer and other diseases is an important ongoing medical objective.

Andy Le and Nikola Victorov, Grade 11 students at Edmonton’s Old Scona Academic High School, focused on just such a process.

Says Andy: “We were looking at cell death and how a specific protein (called ‘JunB’), which is present in several lymphoma cancers, can be cut or ‘cleaved’ by a group of enzymes called caspases.”

Mentored by Dr. Robert Ingham of the University of Alberta’s Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, and based on a technology developed by UofA colleagues, the students created a probe that could be used as a surrogate to measure JunB cleavage. The probe was designed to fluoresce red when intact, but lose fluorescence when the caspases enzymes did their work.

Andy Le and Nikola Viktorov, 1st Place Alberta

Though many steps away, the work lights a potential way to develop drugs that more effectively target diseased cells.

“One major benefit from our approach is that can be used to detect changes in live cells as well as having the potential to be used in a variety of cells,” says Nikola.

The teens have been approached by other faculty members at the University of Alberta interested in collaborating and using this method in related research areas.

“Nikola and I are both pretty good and science,” says Andy, whose sister, Connie Le, was part of a team that won the 2009 regional Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge in Edmonton and inspired his entry this year.

“Nikola and I spent 11 or 12 hours a week on the project beginning last November. Our goal was to develop and easier way to detect when cell death has taken place,” he adds. “We’re happy that our hard work paid off.”

Toronto, Students modify Baker’s yeast to create an novel environment to test brain-related medications

Mark Lievonen, president of Sanofi Pasteur Limited, congratulates Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada GTA Winners Grade 12 students Daniel Zhang and Alexander Tigert of Northern Secondary School at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto.

Depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other forms of mood disorder represent a very large portion of all drug prescriptions.

The mystery of how these drugs work intrigued two Toronto-area Northern Secondary School students, who decided to try creating an artificial environment to test the effects of different brain-related medications.

Alexander Tigert and Daniel Zhang, 17-year old Grade 12 students, genetically engineered Baker’s yeast to manufacture D2 dopamine receptors found in the human brain.

Creating eventually about 5,000 batches of this novel testing ground, they introduced a wide range of drugs for mental disorders to see how the sensitive receptors reacted.

In the central nervous system, D2 dopamine receptors are involved in pleasure, cognition, memory, learning, and fine motor control. Malfunctioning D2 dopamine receptors are also believed to play a role in substance abuse, pathological gambling, Tourette’s syndrome, and Parkinson’s.

“Alex and Daniel were able to capture both direct effects of the drugs — the ones we think we know — as well as every other effect, including the side effects that are extremely difficult to predict,” says their mentor Dr Corey Nislow, Assistant Professor at the Banting and Best Department of Medical Research at the University of Toronto.

Since their test model was an entirely new process, it involved going ‘back to the drawing board’ over and over to learn from mistakes and make revisions in the experiment. “Re-working the experimental process and re-incorporating ideas in a new way made our method more effective,” says Alex.

“We were surprised at the versatility of yeast as a model organism … about 50 per cent of yeast genes are same as human genes,” says Daniel.

They both agree the best part of the Sanofi BioGENEius Competition is the excitement of developing an original science idea and seeing it manifested in a successful project. “We have also enjoyed the spirit of camaraderie between all the competitors. They have become a network of like-minded peers.”

“Alex and Daniel represent the future of scientific research in Canada. They are extremely bright, creative and willing to endure the peaks and valleys of research,” said Dr Nislow.

Québec, The better alcohol to use in hand sanitizers, swabs

Alcohol — nearly always ethanol — is contained in most anti-bacterial hand sanitizers and swabs. But are they really as good as they could be?

Many household surface cleaning products use another kind of alcohol called isopropanol.

All alcohols dry out skin and may lead to cracks, opening a germ pathway. A young Montreal high school student, curious which kind of alcohol is most effective at killing bacteria and easiest on skin, took her question into a university science lab to test for an answer.

The first step for Nivatha Balendra, a 16-year-old attending Montreal’s Royal West Academy, was to determine whether ethanol or isopropanol was better at killing bacteria, which she tested by growing petri plates of bacteria and treating them with both alcohol types. The second step was to acquire enough cultured skin cells to see how the different alcohols affected them.

Verdict? Isopropanol was more effective in lower concentrations at killing bacteria than high concentrations of ethanol. It also killed fewer skin cells than ethanol.

“The result really defies what we all have been thinking, that ethanol is the best anti-bacterial agent,” says Nivatha. “Hand-sanitizing products are used constantly by patients and nurses at hospitals — and at home by children, people with weak immune systems, and a large chunk of our population. Just by changing the alcohol to Isopropanol, the risks faced by these people would be lowered.”

Isopropanol is a lot cheaper, she adds.

Her project was supervised in part by Carlos Melendez-Pena at the Research Institute of McGill University Health Center, and in part by Dr. Carter Li of the Plastic Surgery Research Centre, Montreal General Hospital.

Impressed by her determination, Mr. Melendez-Pena says Nivatha “was willing to put in the work needed to obtain a good project and good results.” Add Dr. Li: “Nivatha is a very hardworking and detail-oriented student. I have every confidence that Nivatha will excel in her studies and career and emerge as one of the leaders in the medical research field.”

Says Nivatha: “I want to pursue a career in medicine, to become a neurosurgeon, though after participating in this year’s competition, I learned how passionate I am about research.”

Saskatchewan, Creating a Better Lentil

Rui Song has ambitions

Rui Song has ambitions. Of course, you’d expect that of the first ever repeat winner of Saskatchewan’s Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge, the youngest ever competitor (14) at the national SBCC in 2010 and, having won 1st place two years ago, the first ever to try for the national championship again.

But competitions are only a step on her way to a much greater goal. She wants to improve nutrition around the world by building a better lentil.

Rui, 16, a Grade 11 student at Saskatoon’s Walter Murray Collegiate, worked eight hours a week at the University of Saskatchewan’s Department of Plant Sciences since last July to improve understanding of the genetics of lentil, one of Saskatchewan’s largest crops and an essential, inexpensive source of protein worldwide, especially in West Asia and India.

An element in the makeup of the most widely-grown lentils — condensed tannins — makes them hardy, disease resistant and high yielding, and produces their seed coat colour. But the same tannins also rob the crop of some nutritional value.

Zero tannin lentils, on the other hand, have a clear seed coat, are more nutritious but don’t grow as well and are more susceptible to disease.

The challenge: find a way to combine the better characteristics of both lentil types. The answer may be found in a close genetic relative — the pea. Recent research found the Mendel A gene controls clear seed coats in peas. Rui demonstrated the same gene causes zero tannin lentils.

Riu’s mentors, Dr. Kirstin Bett, and Rob Stonehouse of the Plant Sciences Department at the University of Saskatchewan, say her work raises the hope of developing a new, more nutritious variety of lentil.

The immediate next step is to sequence the zero tannin lentil gene and analyze its effect on other genes.

“As an participant since 2008, my SBCC experience has definitely changed my life,” says Rui. “Not only did I receive a glimpse in the research process, I gained a new perspective on opportunities in the biotechnology sector. My experience has shaped my future career path and motivated me to change the world for the better through research.”

Dr. Bett is clearly impressed not only with Rui’s abilities in the lab, but with her vision. “Yes, the science is important, but what’s also important is her ability understand the bigger context,” she says.

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