WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 Have you ever experienced a moment in your life 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:07.000 that was so painful and confusing 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:09.000 that all you wanted to do 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:13.000 was learn as much as you could to make sense of it all? NOTE Paragraph 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:16.000 When I was 13, a close family friend 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:18.000 who was like an uncle to me 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:21.000 passed away from pancreatic cancer. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:23.000 When the disease hit so close to home, 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:25.000 I knew I needed to learn more, 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:28.000 so I went online to find answers. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:31.000 Using the Internet, I found a variety of statistics 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:33.000 on pancreatic cancer, 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:35.000 and what I had found shocked me. 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:39.000 Over 85 percent of all pancreatic cancers 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:41.000 are diagnosed late, 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:45.000 when someone has less than a two percent chance of survival. 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:49.000 Why are we so bad at detecting pancreatic cancer? 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:53.000 The reason? Today's current modern medicine 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:55.000 is a 60-year-old technique. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:57.000 That's older than my dad. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:01.000 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:03.000 But also, it's extremely expensive, 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:07.000 costing 800 dollars per test, 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:09.000 and it's grossly inaccurate, 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:13.000 missing 30 percent of all pancreatic cancers. 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:16.000 Your doctor would have to be ridiculously suspicious 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:19.000 that you have the cancer in order to give you this test. 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:23.000 Learning this, I knew there had to be a better way. 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:25.000 So I set up a scientific criteria 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:27.000 as to what a sensor would have to look like 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:31.000 in order to effectively diagnose pancreatic cancer. 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:35.000 The sensor would have to be inexpensive, rapid, 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:38.000 simple, sensitive, selective, 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:41.000 and minimally invasive. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:43.000 Now, there's a reason why this test 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:47.000 hasn't been updated in over six decades, 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:50.000 and that's because, when we're looking for pancreatic cancer, 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:51.000 we're looking at your bloodstream, 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:56.000 which is already abundant in all these tons and tons of protein, 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:58.000 and you're looking for this miniscule difference 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:00.000 in this tiny amount of protein, 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:01.000 just this one protein. 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:03.000 That's next to impossible. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:07.000 However, undeterred due to my teenage optimism -- 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:13.000 (Applause) — 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:16.000 I went online to a teenager's two best friends, 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:18.000 Google and Wikipedia. 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:22.000 I got everything for my homework from those two sources. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:25.000 And what I had found was an article 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:29.000 that listed a database of over 8,000 different proteins 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:31.000 that are found when you have pancreatic cancer. 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:35.000 So I decided to go and make it my new mission 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:38.000 to go through all these proteins and see which ones 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.000 could serve as a biomarker for pancreatic cancer. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:43.000 And to make it a bit simpler for myself, 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:47.000 I decided to map out a scientific criteria. And here it is. 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:49.000 Essentially first, the protein would have to be found 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:52.000 in all pancreatic cancers at high levels in the bloodstream 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:57.000 in the earliest stages, but also only in cancer. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:00.000 And so I'm just plugging and chugging through this gargantuan task, 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:03.000 and finally, on the 4,000th try, 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:05.000 when I'm close to losing my sanity, 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:07.000 I find the protein. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:09.000 And the name of the protein I'd located 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:11.000 was called mesothelin, 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:14.000 and it's just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill type protein, 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:15.000 unless of course you have pancreatic, 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:17.000 ovarian or lung cancer, 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:20.000 in which case it's found at these very high levels in your bloodstream. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:22.000 But also the key is 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:25.000 that it's found in the earliest stages of the disease, 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:27.000 when someone has close to 100 percent chance 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:28.000 of survival. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:32.000 So now that I'd found a reliable protein I could detect, 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:35.000 I then shifted my focus to actually detecting that protein, 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:37.000 and, thus, pancreatic cancer. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:41.000 Now, my breakthrough came in a very unlikely place, 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:43.000 possibly the most unlikely place for innovation: 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:45.000 my high school biology class, 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:48.000 the absolute stifler of innovation. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:53.000 (Laughter) (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:56.000 And I had snuck in this article on these things called 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:00.000 carbon nanotubes, and that's just a long, thin pipe of carbon 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:01.000 that's an atom thick 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:04.000 and one 50 thousandth the diameter of your hair. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:06.000 And despite their extremely small sizes, 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:08.000 they have these incredible properties. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:10.000 They're kind of like the superheroes of material science. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:13.000 And while I was sneakily reading this article 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:15.000 under my desk in my biology class, 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:16.000 we were supposed to be paying attention 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:20.000 to these other kind of cool molecules called antibodies. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:22.000 And these are pretty cool because they only react 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:24.000 with one specific protein, 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:26.000 but they're not nearly as interesting as carbon nanotubes. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:30.000 And so then, I was sitting in class, 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:32.000 and suddenly it hit me: 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:35.000 I could combine what I was reading about, 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:36.000 carbon nanotubes, 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:39.000 with what I was supposed to be thinking about, antibodies. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:42.000 Essentially, I could weave a bunch of these antibodies 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:44.000 into a network of carbon nanotubes 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:46.000 such that you have a network 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:48.000 that only reacts with one protein, 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:51.000 but also, due to the properties of these nanotubes, 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:53.000 it would change its electrical properties 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:56.000 based on the amount of protein present. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:58.000 However, there's a catch. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:01.000 These networks of carbon nanotubes are extremely flimsy, 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:05.000 and since they're so delicate, they need to be supported. 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:07.000 So that's why I chose to use paper. 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:09.000 Making a cancer sensor out of paper 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:11.000 is about as simple as making chocolate chip cookies, 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:15.000 which I love. 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:18.000 You start with some water, pour in some nanotubes, 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:21.000 add antibodies, mix it up, 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:23.000 take some paper, dip it, dry it, 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:26.000 and you can detect cancer. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:33.000 (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:36.000 Then, suddenly, a thought occurred 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:41.000 that kind of put a blemish on my amazing plan here. 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:42.000 I can't really do cancer research 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:44.000 on my kitchen countertop. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:46.000 My mom wouldn't really like that. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:49.000 So instead, I decided to go for a lab. 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:51.000 So I typed up a budget, a materials list, 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:54.000 a timeline, and a procedure, 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:56.000 and I emailed it to 200 different professors 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:58.000 at Johns Hopkins University 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:00.000 and the National Institutes of Health, 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:03.000 essentially anyone that had anything to do with pancreatic cancer. 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:06.000 And I sat back waiting for these positive emails to be pouring in, 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:07.000 saying, "You're a genius! 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:09.000 You're going to save us all!" NOTE Paragraph 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:13.000 And — (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:14.000 Then reality took hold, 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:17.000 and over the course of a month, 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:21.000 I got 199 rejections out of those 200 emails. 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:24.000 One professor even went through my entire procedure, 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:27.000 painstakingly -- I'm not really sure where he got all this time -- 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:31.000 and he went through and said why each and every step 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:34.000 was like the worst mistake I could ever make. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:36.000 Clearly, the professors did not have as high 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:39.000 of an opinion of my work as I did. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:42.000 However, there was a silver lining. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:45.000 One professor said, "Maybe I might be able to help you, kid." 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:47.000 So I went in that direction. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:51.000 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:54.000 As you can never say no to a kid. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:56.000 And so then, three months later, 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:59.000 I finally nailed down a harsh deadline with this guy, 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:00.000 and I get into his lab, 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:03.000 I get all excited, and then I sit down, 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:04.000 I start opening my mouth and talking, 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:07.000 and five seconds later he calls in another Ph.D. 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:11.000 Ph.D.'s just flock into this little room, 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:13.000 and they're just firing these questions at me, 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:16.000 and by the end, I kind of felt like I was in a clown car. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:17.000 There were 20 Ph.D.'s plus me and the professor 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:20.000 crammed into this tiny office space 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:23.000 with them firing these rapid-fire questions at me, 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:25.000 trying to sink my procedure. 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:28.000 How unlikely is that? I mean, pshhh. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:32.000 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:35.000 However, subjecting myself to that interrogation, 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:36.000 I answered all of their questions, 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:38.000 and I guessed on quite a few but I got them right, 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:43.000 and I finally landed the lab space I needed. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:45.000 But it was shortly afterwards that I discovered 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.000 my once brilliant procedure 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:49.000 had something like a million holes in it, 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:51.000 and over the course of seven months, 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:54.000 I painstakingly filled each and every one of those holes. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:57.000 The result? One small paper sensor 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:00.000 that costs three cents and takes five minutes to run. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:04.000 This makes it 168 times faster, 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:07.000 over 26,000 times less expensive, 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:09.000 and over 400 times more sensitive 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:12.000 than our current standard for pancreatic cancer detection. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:22.000 (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:24.000 One of the best parts of the sensor, though, 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:27.000 is that it has close to 100 percent accuracy, 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:29.000 and can detect the cancer in the earliest stages 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:33.000 when someone has close to 100 percent chance of survival. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:35.000 And so in the next two to five years, 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:38.000 this sensor could potentially lift for pancreatic cancer survival rates 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:40.000 from a dismal 5.5 percent 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:42.000 to close to 100 percent, 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:45.000 and it would do similar for ovarian and lung cancer. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:48.000 But it wouldn't stop there. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:49.000 By switching out that antibody, 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:51.000 you can look at a different protein, 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:53.000 thus, a different disease, 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:56.000 potentially any disease in the entire world. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:58.000 So that ranges from heart disease 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:01.000 to malaria, HIV, AIDS, 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:04.000 as well as other forms of cancer -- anything. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:06.000 And so hopefully one day 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:08.000 we can all have that one extra uncle, 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:11.000 that one mother, that one brother, sister, 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:14.000 we can have that one more family member to love, 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:19.000 and that our hearts will be rid of that one disease burden 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:22.000 that comes from pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancer, 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:24.000 and potentially any disease, 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:27.000 that through the Internet anything is possible. 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:28.000 Theories can be shared, 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.000 and you don't have to be a professor 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:33.000 with multiple degrees to have your ideas valued. 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:34.000 It's a neutral space, 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:37.000 where what you look like, age or gender, 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:38.000 it doesn't matter. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:40.000 It's just your ideas that count. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:43.000 For me, it's all about looking at the Internet 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.000 in an entirely new way 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:47.000 to realize that there's so much more to it 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:52.000 than just posting duck-face pictures of yourself online. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:56.000 You could be changing the world. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:58.000 So if a 15-year-old 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:01.000 who didn't even know what a pancreas was 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:04.000 could find a new way to detect pancreatic cancer, 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:07.000 just imagine what you could do. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:08.000 Thank you. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:14.000 (Applause)