A 15 year Old develops revolutionary cancer detection Technique - Jack Andraka

A 15 year Old develops revolutionary cancer detection Technique - Jack Andraka

Jack Thomas Andraka (Born on Jan 8th ,1997) is the recipient of Gordon E.Moore Award,which is the grand prize of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (IISE) for his invention of inexpensive and sensitive dipstick ,which is 168 times faster,400 times more sensitive and 26,000 times less expensive than the medical standard.

After a close family friend died of pancreatic cancer,Andraka became interested to find a better early detection diagnostic test.He also learnt that the survival rate of Pancreatic cancer is only 2 out of 100,ehich is because of failure to detect the cancer in early stages.After thinking further he came with a plan ,budget and also realized that he need some lab space to carry on his research word and contacted about 200 research professionals at John Hopkins University and National Institutes of Health.He got 199 rejections and then finally got an acceptance from Dr.Anirban Maitra,professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Andaraka developed his test at Dr.Maitra's lab & also Dr.Maitra became his mentor.

Dr.Maitra said "You're going to read about him a lot in the years to come... What I tell my lab is, 'Think of Thomas Edison and the light bulb.' This kid is the Edison of our times. There are going to be a lot of light bulbs coming from him".

Andraka's test helps to detect the cancer on the spot in less than five minutes with what he estimates is close to cent % accuracy.The equipment of this test very simple it just consists of a simple strip of filter paper dipped in a solution (with carbon nanotubes laced with mesothelin antibodies) that can detect a biomarker for pancreatic cancer present in the drop of blood.If the blood sample contains the biomarker,It changes the papers electric potential,which can be measured using Ohmmeter.

Jack Andraka is now working in a nano-biotechnology lab - [Qualcomm] Tricorder XPRIZE for $10 million.They are now working to develop something the size of a smartphone that can diagnose any disease instantaneously.