I will join the few media that have so far highlighted the work of the young Jack Andrak, an American teenager who with only 15 years invented a sensor capable of detecting in three minutes three types of cancer (pancreas, ovaries and lung). Now he has 16, his own website, Linkedin profile and a history of conferences and awards that many adult inventors would like.
This method is a lot. cheaper (three cents a unit), fast and sensitive than the current ones, and in favor it has a key factor: it is not invasive. When Andraka went to different laboratories to offer his product, nobody paid attention to him, but his tenacity and self-confidence prevented him from losing hope, and the journey had a happy ending when Johns Hopkins University noticed him (200 contacts = a single valid contact to carry out his work.Jack began to investigate the progress of the disease after suffering the death of a relative from pancreatic cancer.With Google's help, he dedicated himself to studying blood proteins, until he noticed in which one of them (mesothelin) triggers in early stages of the development of this type of cancer.
The detection of mesothelin at a time of cancer development in which the disease can still be treated successfully, can be considered as an advance. And the most surprising thing is that Frank has done it himself. Once Johns Hopkins supported him and got him a mentor, Jack got going and built the projected device (a rod) using strips of filter paper, carbon nanotubes and mesothelin-sensitive antibodies. The accuracy he obtained in the preliminary tests was 100 percent.
The discovery has not gone unnoticed (after the initial setbacks): Jack has spoken at the Global Clienton Initiative, in several North American TEDs (and in London), he has also won awards such as the Smithsonian American Youth and the 2012 Science Fair ( in the category of high school student.
This is news that deserves to be shared, and that leads us to reflect on a fact: adults should rely more on young people, because many times we adopt negative ideas about adolescence, but the relationship they can have with technologies in more On one occasion it is extremely productive. It's just a matter of believing in them, and guiding them to learn how to get the most out of the Internet. for your benefit (and if it can be, for others).
Good for Jack!
