15 year old invents New Method of Diagnosing Cancer

donegal_road

an amazing story, thought Id share

Jack Andraka is a fifteen year old freshman in high school. He developed a paper sensor that could detect pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancer in five minutes for as little as 3 cents. He conducted his research at John Hopkins University. This research could change the face of cancer and promote early detection. To think that scientists spending millions of dollars to find more about cancer, a 15 year old finds out by doing a science fair project!

BUBBLE WRAP

That's fairly interesting.

seven_eleven

Too bad the pharmaceutical companies are going to annihilate him and we will never hear about this ever again. :pac:

hoodwinked

makes you wonder what guys like him will be doing in 10 years time!

Rented Mule

hoodwinked wrote: »

makes you wonder what guys like him will be doing in 10 years time!

See the post above yours.

Dravokivich

hoodwinked wrote: »

makes you wonder what guys like him will be doing in 10 years time!

Not much, he's putting himself out of a job before he's even finished school sure.

1ZRed

Fair play to him on his find.

A part of me can't help but feel depressed over what a 15 yo can achieve and what I probably never will... It's like watching the younger athletes at the Olympics all over again :P

BUBBLE WRAP

1ZRed wrote: »

Fair play to him on his find.

A part of me can't help but feel depressed over what a 15 yo can achieve and what I probably never will... It's like watching the younger athletes at the Olympics all over again :P

Ah cheer up 1Z!

Pilotdude5

I was reading about this a while back. It wasn't him on his own, he was part of a team while on work-placement. They just put him at the forefront as it makes the the story more noticeable.

Generation Y man. Its not about being successful, its about appearing successful.

hoodwinked

seven_eleven wrote: »

Too bad the pharmaceutical companies are going to annihilate him and we will never hear about this ever again. :pac:

Pilotdude5 wrote: »

I was reading about this a while back. It wasn't him on his own, he was part of a team while on work-placement. They just put him at the forefront as it makes the the story more noticeable.

Generation Y man. Its not about being successful, its about appearing successful.

:eek: omg seven_eleven you were right they are starting already! :eek:

ScumLord

Kids like him would make you wonder if maybe humanity isn't that ****ed after all.

donegal_road

1ZRed wrote: »

Fair play to him on his find.

A part of me can't help but feel depressed over what a 15 yo can achieve and what I probably never will... It's like watching the younger athletes at the Olympics all over again :P

I know what you mean, but at the same time it is amazing what can be done with access to information and a lot of hard work. He makes the point that all the information we need is online, all we need to do is apply ourselves.

MisterAnarchy

Its sad to think of all the huge advances scientists and engineers have made in technology over the last 40 years yet medicine is still in the dark ages in so may areas.
Where would medicine be without scientists and engineers ,doctors seem to be the biggest parasites ,the head of the food chain ,yet they do very little .

I hope this product makes it to the market and doesnt get tied up in testing delays or bought by a pharmaceutical company and buried like so many previous products.

Fannyhead

Meh... come back when you find a cure, kid.

Jimoslimos

seven_eleven wrote: »

Too bad the pharmaceutical companies are going to annihilate him and we will never hear about this ever again. :pac:

Meh, there's nothing particularly ground-breaking to see here. The science is essentially the same as the "60-year old technique" he dismissed early in the talk. Given his obvious talent for selling it, more than likely he'll end up working for the pharmaceutical companies

donegal_road

Jimoslimos wrote: »

Meh, there's nothing particularly ground-breaking to see here. The science is essentially the same as the "60-year old technique" he dismissed early in the talk. Given his obvious talent for selling it, more than likely he'll end up working for the pharmaceutical companies

their not going to be cleaning up at 3c a pop though

hoodwinked

donegal_road wrote: »

their not going to be cleaning up at 3c a pop though

thats to make them though RRP will be $50 :pac:

checkyabadself

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Its sad to think of all the huge advances scientists and engineers have made in technology over the last 40 years yet medicine is still in the dark ages in so may areas.
Where would medicine be without scientists and engineers ,doctors seem to be the biggest parasites ,the head of the food chain ,yet they do very little .

I hope this product makes it to the market and doesnt get tied up in testing delays or bought by a pharmaceutical company and buried like so many previous products.

I`m reading "Bad Pharma" by Ben Goldacre at the moment and it explains a lot of what you`re saying. The hold the pharmaceutical industry has over the medical profession is disturbing, but mostly disappointing in how profit and patents crush the search for the best available medicines and cures.

Jimoslimos

donegal_road wrote: »

their not going to be cleaning up at 3c a pop though

Well the current tests aren't that expensive, the main cost is having a technician run it and a clinician diagnose, all those costs aren't going to magically disappear.

Especially with quantitative biomarkers, you still need someone to interpret the results. 3c is a gross exaggeration.

kowloon

1ZRed wrote: »

Fair play to him on his find.

A part of me can't help but feel depressed over what a 15 yo can achieve and what I probably never will... It's like watching the younger athletes at the Olympics all over again :P

Yeah, these videos are supposed to be inspiring but they just leave me with the feeling that I've wasted my life. I'm not sure I'd even make good filler for a Findus readymeal.

checkyabadself wrote: »

I`m reading "Bad Pharma" by Ben Goldacre at the moment and it explains a lot of what you`re saying.

Would you recommend it? Read Bad Science and enjoyed that.

1ZRed

BUBBLE WRAP wrote: »

Ah cheer up 1Z!

Should've seen me last August during the Olympics with the younger athletes. Not a happy sight. I could've gone pro!!!

donegal_road wrote: »

I know what you mean, but at the same time it is amazing what can be done with access to information and a lot of hard work. He makes the point that all the information we need is online, all we need to do is apply ourselves.

It all seemed so clear and straight forward right until this part :pac:

MisterAnarchy

checkyabadself wrote: »

I`m reading "Bad Pharma" by Ben Goldacre at the moment and it explains a lot of what you`re saying. The hold the pharmaceutical industry has over the medical profession is disturbing, but mostly disappointing in how profit and patents crush the search for the best available medicines and cures.

Sounds like an interesting read,I must check it out.