Maybe you don’t hear about this modest guy. Jack Andraka, when Jack was 15-years-old he created a new diagnostic test for pancreatic cancer that is 28 times faster, 26,000 times less expensive and over 100 times more sensitive than the current diagnostic tests. And, in case that’s not impressive enough, the test also works for ovarian and lung cancer. His diagnostic test earned him first prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the world’s largest pre-college science research competition. Interviewed before the fair, he said, “I’m incredibly excited. It’s like the Olympics of science fairs. It’s just amazing to be here—even if I don’t get a prize.” Well, Jack Andraka did win, receiving about $100,000 in prize money. The high schooler said he will put the money toward college tuition. It was after a close family friend died of pancreatic cancer that Jack became interested in finding a better early-detection diagnostic test.
Unfortunately, pancreatic cancer is usually detected too late to save the patient. Jack said the solution came to him during his high school biology class. He was secretly reading an article about nano tubes while the teacher was talking about antibodies. Jack said the two ideas came together in his head, and he thought he could combine what the teacher was saying with what he knew about nano tubes to create an early detection test for Pancreatic cancer. Jack Andraka used what he found through Google searches and free online science journals to develop a plan and a budget. Jack contacted about 200 people including researches at Johns Hopkins University and the National Institutes of Health with a proposal to work in their labs. He got 199 rejections and then finally got an acceptance from Dr. Anirban Maitra, Professor of Pathology, Oncology and Chemical and Bio-molecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
It’s at Maitra’s lab where Jack worked daily after school, on weekends and over holidays until he developed his test. Why did a 15-year-old beat out billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies with his diagnostic test? Perhaps as a young person with no experience, he hadn’t yet learned what everyone else in the industry “knew couldn’t be done.” Certainly, it was in no small part because Anirban Maitra gave him a chance. Not to mention that Jack had an idea and went out and gave it a try. Think about Jack Andraka the next time you hear that something can’t be done, someone asks you to help out with his project, you receive numerous rejections (close to 200 in Jack Andraka’s case) or you’re hesitating to give one of your ideas a shot.
Also, keep in mind that you don’t necessarily need a giant team, billions of dollars in resources or even more than 15 years of life experience to do something amazing. Jack Andraka’s diagnostic test were published on the Society for Science and the Public web site, and Jack has patented his discovery. The result of his project was a new dipstick type diagnostic test for pancreatic cancer using a novel paper sensor, similar to that of the diabetic test strip. This strip tests for the level of mesothelin, a pancreatic cancer biomarker, in blood or urine, to determine whether or not a patient has early-stage pancreatic cancer. The test is over 90 percent accurate in detecting the presence of mesothelin.
According to Andraka, it is also 168 times faster, 26,000 times less expensive (costing around three cents), over 400 times more sensitive than the current diagnostic tests and only takes five minutes to run. He says the test is also effective for detecting ovarian and lung cancer, due to the same mesothelin biomarker they have in common. Professor Maitra is very enthusiastic about Andraka’s future. He told the Baltimore Sun “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.” The boys’ father, Steve Andraka, is a civil engineer. Their mother, Jane Andraka, is an anesthetist. She told the Sun “… we’re not a super-athletic family. We don’t go to much football or baseball.” “Instead we have a million science magazines and sit around the table and talk about how people came up with their ideas and what we would do differently Officials at Intel have said that Andraka’s method is more than 90 percent accurate in detecting the presence of mesothelin. He has patented his method of sensing pancreatic cancer and is communicating with companies about developing an over-the-counter test. If you’re interested in hearing Jack Andraka talk about his pancreatic cancer diagnostic test breakthrough, the video below is Jack Andraka’s TED talk about his discovery.