First Look - Jack Andraka Stanford Medicine X Keynote
Summary
TLDRJack Andraka, a young scientist, shares his journey of developing a revolutionary sensor for early pancreatic cancer detection at the age of 15. His invention, using carbon nanotubes and antibodies, is a cost-effective, rapid, and highly sensitive alternative to traditional methods. Andraka's story highlights the importance of accessible scientific knowledge, advocating for a 'knowledge democracy' where everyone, regardless of their background, has equal access to scientific research.
Takeaways
- 😢 Jack Andraka was motivated to find a better way to detect pancreatic cancer after a close family friend passed away from it.
- 🔍 He discovered that over 85% of pancreatic cancers are diagnosed late, giving patients less than a 2% chance of survival due to outdated detection methods.
- 🛠️ Jack embarked on a quest to develop a new cancer sensor that would be inexpensive, rapid, simple, sensitive, selective, and minimally invasive.
- 🧬 Through extensive online research, he identified a protein called mesothelin, which is present in high levels in the bloodstream during early stages of pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancers.
- 💡 His innovative idea was to combine antibodies with carbon nanotubes to create a sensor that changes electrical resistance in the presence of the target protein.
- 📚 Jack faced numerous rejections and challenges, including the difficulty of accessing scientific articles due to paywalls, which hindered his research progress.
- 🏥 Despite the setbacks, he persevered and eventually secured lab space at Johns Hopkins University to develop his sensor.
- 🔬 The developed sensor was highly effective, costing only three cents, taking five minutes to run, and being 26,000 times less expensive and 400 times more sensitive than existing methods.
- 🌟 Jack's sensor could potentially increase the survival rate of pancreatic cancer from 5.5% to nearly 100% and is adaptable for detecting other diseases as well.
- 💼 He highlighted the issue of paywalls in academic publishing, arguing that knowledge should be a basic human right, not a commodity, and called for a 'knowledge democracy'.
- 🌐 Jack emphasized the importance of equal access to knowledge, regardless of socioeconomic status or geographical location, to empower everyone to contribute to scientific advancements.
Q & A
What motivated Jack Andraka to start researching pancreatic cancer?
-Jack was motivated to research pancreatic cancer after a close family friend, who was like an uncle to him, passed away from the disease.
What was the main issue Jack identified with the current method of detecting pancreatic cancer?
-The main issue Jack identified was that the current method of detecting pancreatic cancer is outdated, expensive, and inaccurate, missing 30% of all cases and only being administered when a doctor is highly suspicious of cancer.
What are the characteristics of an ideal sensor for detecting pancreatic cancer according to Jack's research?
-An ideal sensor for detecting pancreatic cancer should be inexpensive, rapid, simple, sensitive, selective, and minimally invasive.
How did Jack approach the challenge of finding a protein to detect pancreatic cancer?
-Jack approached the challenge by researching online, specifically using Google and Wikipedia, and by examining a database of over 8,000 different proteins associated with various cancers.
What protein did Jack identify as a potential biomarker for pancreatic cancer?
-Jack identified the protein mesothelin as a potential biomarker for pancreatic cancer, as it is found in high levels in the bloodstream during the early stages of the disease.
What innovative material did Jack use to create his sensor for detecting mesothelin?
-Jack used carbon nanotubes to create his sensor, combining them with antibodies to create a network that changes electrical resistance in the presence of the specific protein.
What was the main challenge Jack faced in getting his research started?
-The main challenge Jack faced was gaining access to a laboratory to conduct his research, as he received 199 rejections from professors before finally getting a 'maybe' from Dr. Aaron Blair at Johns Hopkins University.
How did Jack overcome the issue of paywalls in accessing scientific journals?
-Jack and his peers found ways to access articles by pirating them from different sites or by emailing the lead authors for copies, although this often led to wasted time and sometimes required spending money.
What impact does Jack believe the paywalls have on the accessibility of scientific knowledge?
-Jack believes that paywalls create a rigid knowledge class system, discriminating access to knowledge based on financial resources and limiting the potential for scientific discovery by those who cannot afford the articles.
What is Jack's vision for the future of scientific knowledge accessibility?
-Jack envisions a 'knowledge democracy' where everyone, regardless of their background or financial status, has equal access to scientific knowledge as a basic human right, fostering a more equitable environment for scientific discovery.
How does Jack's research potentially impact the early detection and survival rates of pancreatic cancer?
-Jack's research has the potential to significantly increase the early detection rate and survival rates of pancreatic cancer by providing a sensor that is faster, cheaper, and more sensitive than current methods, allowing for detection at stages when the chance of survival is close to 100%.
Outlines
🔬 Early Cancer Detection: A Teen's Quest
Jack Andraka, a young scientist, shares his personal motivation for developing a new method to detect pancreatic cancer after losing a close family friend to the disease. He was shocked by the late diagnosis rate and the inadequacy of existing tests, which are both expensive and inaccurate. Driven by his 8th-grade biology knowledge, Jack embarked on a mission to create a sensor that is inexpensive, rapid, simple, sensitive, selective, and minimally invasive. His research led him to discover the protein mesothelin, which is present in high levels during the early stages of pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancers. This discovery set the stage for his innovative approach to cancer diagnostics.
💡 The Eureka Moment: Carbon Nanotubes and Antibodies
In his high school biology class, Jack had a breakthrough idea to combine carbon nanotubes with antibodies to create a sensor that could detect specific proteins indicative of cancer. Carbon nanotubes, extremely small and with unique electrical properties, change their electrical conductance in the presence of certain proteins. Jack's concept involved attaching antibodies specific to the mesothelin protein to the nanotubes, which would then allow for the detection of minute quantities of this protein in the bloodstream. He envisioned a simple test using paper and an ohm meter, drawing parallels to the ease of making chocolate chip cookies.
🚪 Overcoming Obstacles: The Journey to a Lab
Jack faced numerous rejections when attempting to secure lab space for his research, sending out a comprehensive proposal that included his methodology, materials, timeline, and budget. After 199 rejections, he finally received a tentative 'maybe' from Dr. Aaron Bell at Johns Hopkins University. Despite initial setbacks and a lack of lab experience, Jack persevered, learning through trial and error, and eventually developed a paper sensor that was cost-effective, rapid, and highly sensitive. His invention has the potential to revolutionize early cancer detection and significantly improve survival rates.
💼 The Battle Against Paywalls in Scientific Research
Jack highlights the issue of paywalls in scientific publishing, which hindered his research by requiring payment for access to crucial articles. He spent a significant amount of money to access the necessary background information, which he argues should be as accessible as popular culture. He criticizes the knowledge class system created by paywalls, where access to information is determined by financial means. Jack calls for a knowledge democracy, where science and knowledge are not luxuries but basic human rights, available to everyone regardless of their background or financial status. He envisions a world where ideas, not financial resources, drive scientific progress.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Pancreatic Cancer
💡Mesothelin
💡Carbon Nanotubes
💡Antibodies
💡Sensor
💡Paywalls
💡Knowledge Democracy
💡Scientific Journals
💡Innovation
💡Survival Rate
💡Youth and Research
Highlights
Jack Andraka's motivation to learn about pancreatic cancer after a close family friend's death.
The shocking statistics on late pancreatic cancer diagnosis and the low survival rate.
The inadequacy of the current medical test for pancreatic cancer in terms of cost, accuracy, and invasiveness.
Andraka's ambitious goal to develop a new, inexpensive, and accurate cancer detection sensor as an 8th grader.
The criteria for an effective cancer detection sensor: inexpensive, rapid, simple, sensitive, selective, and minimally invasive.
The challenge of detecting cancer markers in blood due to the vast volume and the tiny increase in protein levels.
Andraka's use of Google and Wikipedia as primary sources for his research.
The discovery of the protein mesothelin as a potential biomarker for early detection of pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancers.
The innovative idea of combining antibodies with carbon nanotubes for protein detection.
The practical application of Andraka's sensor using a simple paper test that can be conducted in minutes.
The challenges faced in securing a lab for research and the numerous rejections received.
The perseverance and eventual success in gaining lab access at Johns Hopkins University.
The difficulties encountered during the research process, including lab mishaps and technical challenges.
The development of a paper sensor that is significantly faster, cheaper, and more sensitive than existing methods.
The potential impact of Andraka's sensor on increasing the survival rate of pancreatic cancer to nearly 100%.
The broader implications of the sensor as a platform for detecting various diseases by changing the antibodies used.
The issue of paywalls in scientific journals and their impact on accessibility and the flow of information.
Andraka's call for a knowledge democracy and the necessity of making scientific research accessible to all.
The empowerment of individuals through knowledge and the potential for collective innovation when barriers are removed.
Transcripts
now let's welcome to the stage our
keynote speaker for this morning the
Gordon e Moore Award winner
please welcome Jack andraka have you
ever experienced a moment in your life
that was so painful and confusing that
all you want to do was learn as much as
you could to make sense of it all when I
was 13 a close family friend who was
like an uncle to me passed away from
pancreatic cancer when the disease hits
so close to home I knew I needed to
learn more so I went online to find
answers and using the internet I found a
variety of statistics on pancreatic
cancer my had found shocked me over 85%
of all pancreatic cancers are diagnosed
late when someone has less than 2%
chance of survival why are we so bad at
detecting pancreatic cancer
the reason our current modern medicine
is a six-year-old technique I mean it's
older than my dad but also it costs $800
per test and is grossly inaccurate
missing 30% of all pancreatic cancers
and your doctor would have to be
ridiculously suspicious that you have
the cancer in order to give you this
test and then all of a sudden I was
thinking maybe there's a better way to
do this and so then I fell on this grand
adventure armed with 8th grade biology
to change cancer diagnostics pretty
lofty gone retrospect however I went
online and saw was sensor for pancreatic
cancer would really have to look like in
order to be effective at diagnosing it
the sensor would have to be inexpensive
rapid simple sensitive selective and
minimally invasive now I was pretty sure
I could do this but I wasn't quite sure
how I was going to do it and so then I
just went back online and what I found
is
the reason why we haven't updated the
sensor for over six decades is because
when you're looking at your cancer we're
looking in your bloodstream particularly
for these different proteins and changes
in their levels and the sounds are
really straightforward but it's anything
but because essentially you have these
liters and liters of blood that's
already button in those proteins and
you're looking for this tiny increase in
this tiny amount of protein and so it's
next to impossible it's kind of like
trying to find a needle and a second
nearly identical needles so undeterred
due to my teenage optimism or how many
people label ignorant of the entire
field I essentially went back to any
teenagers best source for information
Google and Wikipedia how I got through
every one of my high school tests and
essentially I found a database of over
8,000 different proteins that you have
in your bloodstream when you have these
different cancers and since it was
summer break and I had literally nothing
else to do I decide to go on a grande
poutine hunting marathon I felt like I
was playing this one like game called
Pokemon we have to like catch all these
different things but instead here it's
like catch all the proteins and it kind
of drives you insane after a while and
so I just start going through this I
locked myself in my room on the computer
and at the end of the summer is really
doubting my possibility for any future
social interaction after searching
through 4,000 proteins would you do this
summer oh I went like traveling and like
went backpacking oh I sat in my room and
did protein research that was I was a
kid so essentially on the 4000 try I
finally found one protein that could
possibly work and I was pretty excited
and the name of this protein is called
mesothelin and it's just your ordinary
run-of-the-mill type protein unless of
course you have pancreatic ovarian and
lung cancer in which case it's found
these very high levels in your
bloodstream but also it's found the
earliest stages of the disease when
someone has close to a hundred percent
chance of survival so now that I found a
protein that could work I then shifted
my focus to the actual problem at hand
detecting that protein and the spanker
at cancer now my kind of epiphany moment
here it was like this chemo more
everything found a place for me
can the most unlikely places high school
biology class stifle of innovation
particularly with my evil high school
biology teacher I hate her and she hated
me it was like the jack versus miss
Chandra wars and there and essentially
one day I decided to like stab her
through the ribs and bring in an article
on actual science carbon nanotubes not
mundane fact memorizing and carbon
nanotubes are these long term pipes of
carbon atom thick and 150 thousand eight
the diameter of your hair so they're
extremely small and they have these
incredible properties they're kind of
like the super here as a material
science so I'd select this and I was
kind of like I was sneaking in a comic
book I like wedge into my biology
textbook I wasn't really interested
about we were doing that day and I just
was wobbly reading it under the desk
like oh yeah you're not going to catch
me I'm too cool for you and then what
happens is we're learning about these
things called antibodies and y'all know
what anti-bias are these molecules that
only react with one protein then I'm
just sitting there like kind of being
lulled to sleep by her droning and then
all of a sudden it hits me I could
essentially combine these two things I
just slap them together take some
antibodies and we read them into a
network of nanotubes such a network that
only reacts with one specific protein
but also due to the properties of these
nanotubes
there's never will actually change how
electricity flows through it based on
the mouth a twin protein present and
thus I can tell you whether or not you
have pancreatic cancer based on how much
of a change there is it's actually
really simple to measure this change you
essentially take an ohm meter that you
steal from your dad's garage and you
just plug it on and you can measure the
resistance in five minutes and there's
one catch though
see these network of nanotubes are
really flimsy and since they're so
delicate they need to be a support of
course and so I chose to use paper and
meeting the paper sensor for pink react
answer is about as simple as making
chocolate chip cookies which I love
they're like my advice like if I did be
on the test there goes the chocolate
chip cookies but what happened is you
essentially take some water you pour the
nanotubes in them add some anti-vice mix
it up
take some paper dip it dry it and then
you can detect cancer and that's a bit
of an oversimplification of course I
mean like you have to do some actual
like optimization and western blots
which I hate but then as soon as I had
this like a Tiffany moment all of a
sudden my biology teacher whirls around
like gives me the stink eye she's like
mr. and Rika where are you being and she
snatches this article on my hands she's
like what is this actual science doing
in my class she didn't say that but
that's why I I thought it would be
really what she was thinking because of
it I hate her but finally after class I
finally got this huge feel on like
self-respect and respecting the teacher
and paying attention in class all this
boring stuff that I didn't care about
really and I kind of just toned her out
and just was thinking when is she going
to shut up and then finally after 30
minutes I've been during that pain I got
the article now I could start doing some
actual research and then all of a sudden
I realized I might need a lab for this
see I can't have like day and drink a
household cancer research program I mean
I've been doing some pretty crazy stuff
I mean we're on the FBI watch list well
my mom is since we use her credit card I
mean we have this giant lead Pig of
uranium or just seeing in our basement
next to our backs of like chlorine gas
that we made and then we have like high
voltage electronics and I even cultured
ecoli we make sandwiches so it's pretty
we did some pretty sketchy stuff but
cancer research it's a bit stretching it
for my mom so I decided I'm going to get
into a lab that should be easy enough
right
the prequel idea though don't like it
right so it sent out a 32-page with
houmous of a paper including all like my
sources my like everything from like
materials list the timeline budget like
structure down to pennies
it was pretty detailed I sent it out I'm
like oh I've rinsed this great something
right like everyone's just gonna be like
running over themselves I won't be able
to pick and choose and I'll be like on
time like genius kid now my my lofty
dreams like soon crashed into the ground
because I got a hundred and ninety-nine
rejections out of those 200 emails and I
realized throughout this professors
aren't nearly as nice as their profile
pictures make them seem I mean they were
really mean they'd like the red ink
would come out and once you get the red
ink you know it's over for you and then
throughout all this after a month of
getting just rejection after rejection
finally got one maybe at dr. Aaron bond
my Atrus lab at Johns Hopkins University
and I think okay I'm for sure going in
here he just said like oh maybe you can
look at my lab like through like from 50
feet away outside but I was like I'm
definitely getting in there right so go
in to like look at his lab I have like
this huge stacks of like 500 plus
journal articles I go and I'm like this
is going to be a classic in for you like
what's your favorite color
why are you here how old are you easy
stuff like that right oh now he asked
some pretty tough questions he actually
knew he was talking about unfortunately
couldn't bamboozle him like I could my
parents just like turns and large where
it's like of course that pathway is
being mediated by carbon nanotubes yes
no I actually have to like explain
science damn and he called him 28 PhD
since this 9 foot by nine foot room
they're just throwing these questions
there after swinging out for an hour I
guess see on so many of those questions
I get do on SATs I finally got the lab
space I needed just as soon as I got in
I
I had no idea what I was doing I had
zero lab experience I'm just sitting
there I'm like what do I do and so I'm
like wandering around knocking stuff
over but finally they get me on track
and first thing I do is sneeze in myself
culture and like have an immune system
right they'll be fine they'll fight it
off at you it's going to be like the flu
just feed them some Gatorade it'll be
good right I come in the next morning
it's like monster from the Loch Ness
swamp like in there like the tentacles
I'm like oh my god what is that so we'd
like burn that wherever we dip at that
the next day I'm super excited going I'm
going like I'm going to nail this it's
going to be perfect I dropped my cell
cultures the day after that I burned
them like in the incubator I freeze them
it was bad and then I got to the Western
blot and that's where I had to optimize
my anti by that I was using because
they'll be notes to me they're
apparently any different antibodies from
mesothelin I'm like what I thought there
was only one antibody that's a point of
an antibody there's only one key to a
lock oh no I was a bit of a
misconception there but finally I got
through the Western blot and I screwed
it up eighty times over and over and
over again and I'd like spend nights
there I'd like create a little like mat
of scientific journals to sleep on like
tooled playing and they'd cry myself to
sleep all eating a Twix bar like why
isn't it working
however finally I ended up with one
small paper sensor that cost three cents
it takes five minutes to run this makes
it a hundred and sixty-eight times
faster over 26,000 times less expensive
and over 400 times more sensitive than a
current method of detection but also I
tested it on a hundred patient samples
when I found is it as close to 100%
accuracy and can detect the cancer in
the earliest stage when something that's
close to a hundred percent chance of
survival so in the next two to five
years this patent-pending sensor could
potentially lift that survival rate of
5.5%
to close to a hundred percent and reduce
I would do similar for ovarian and lung
cancer but also what's so cool is this
kind of like a platform to detect any
disease because you can change out by
anti by it and detect a completely
different protein meaning a different
disease range from Alzheimer's other
forms of cancer even hiv/aids and
malaria or heart disease and so as all
these applications and wife town so I
can also monitor what drugs are already
going to be resistant to that your
cancer is resistant and then also see
how well your chemotherapy regimen is
working and so it's pretty cool what's
going on with this however throughout
this entire process you know I faced
like a lot of adversity I mean 119 I
know if I stop as soon kind of like
plunged after that plus like the
biologist who just told me no my parents
told me no I mean at least they didn't
tell me to make like a paper mache
volcano however the greatest adversity I
faced was definitely paywalls
you see 90% of all scientific journals
have paywalls
meaning that if you want that article
you have to call for $35 se-ho sudden
you realize that article is nothing to
do with your research well then you
there's no return policy just $35 ah
well my parents were in this case
because they paid for everything which
was pretty nice and then what I realized
when I went to all these scientific
competitions is all of my peers thought
the exact same thing I mean we got a bit
creative like we would go on Google and
like look to like pirate them off these
different sites or like for example we
could like email the lead author but
often time this led to countless hours
being waste and eventually we cave and
just have to spend the money so I spent
possibly a thousand dollars plus on this
research just to get the background
information I need it I mean that's a
lot of weeks of allowance and what I
found is that this these payoffs have
killed so many different scientific
ideas at my school and all around the
nation just because we simply can't
afford these articles because scientific
research should just be as acceptable
accessible as iTunes and the world of
pop culture and stuff I mean why are
scientific articles 35 times the new
Katy Perry signal I don't really get
that and this isn't just a problem for
15 year olds this is a problem for
nearly everyone
I mean Harvard University recently
released a statement saying major
periodical subscriptions especially to
electronic journals published by
historically key providers cannot be
sustained continuing these subscriptions
on their current footing is financially
unintended now what does it say about
the world of academic publishing
accessibility of knowledge and flow of
information when Harvard University the
richest academic institution in the
world can't afford its articles I mean
how's a 15 year old supposed to cough
that up by instituting these paywalls
we've created this really rigid
knowledge class system we're essentially
of the knowledgeably those research
scientists I can't afford all these
articles of those working in corporate
labs and even here we have a bit of
segregation we have knowledge like
billionaires there's large research
institutions like Harvard Yale Stanford
they can all afford these articles right
well then there's the knowledge
millionaires people like Towson
University or like state-funded
universities that don't have the same
access and so we're basically
discriminating your access to knowledge
based on how much money or university
has I mean that's not right and then we
have the knowledge middle-class people
like you or me we don't really have
access to these articles but at least we
can read like the 10% that's openly
available plus we can kind of read like
the abstracts maybe pirate a few
articles and we also have access to
Internet but then there's the knowledge
underclass 5.5 billion people who don't
have access to the Internet and that's
absolutely Zoo access to any scientific
knowledge whatsoever so essentially zero
point zero zero eight percent eight one
thousandth of 1% its point that's how
many people have access to scientific
articles in the world
there's 5.6 million research scientists
and then there's other 80% of the world
there's not underclass Hooves zero
access that I mean there's this huge nod
aristocracy that's going on right now
and that's just not fair we have to have
a knowledge democracy because imagine
what if no matter where you're from
whether you're from Morocco to India to
the u.s. to China it wouldn't matter if
you're a billionaire or living on less
than a dollar a day that you'd have the
exact same access to that knowledge
because a girl in Pakistan should have
just the same exact knowledge as someone
living here and going to a super
prestigious university because that is a
quality because science should not be a
luxury and knowledge should not be a
commodity it should be a basic human
right because the minds of the people
they have to be free and that means the
minds of everyone not the minds of the
select few that can afford these
articles cuz science has to be agnostic
to all of these factors money or like
where you're from it shouldn't matter
about that it should matter about what
your ideas are and how you can make them
true and now it shouldn't be a barrier
to that and we should really have to
change that because when 80% of people
lack access to the Internet and then 90%
of all articles on the Internet aren't
accessible to people we have a problem
because knowledge is the quick equalizer
of the world cuz it doesn't matter who
you are if you have knowledge just
merits how you use it doesn't matter if
you're black white Hispanic Asian it
doesn't matter it doesn't matter if
you're poor if you're rich just matters
how you're going to use that knowledge
and help change the world because
knowledge empowers all of us to come up
with great ideas and change the world I
believe everyone should have that
opportunity so we have to abolish this
knowledge mill class and knowledge
underclass and elevate to the sales
level as the knowledgeably and I believe
that we can do this because a 15 year
old who didn't quite know we're pancreas
was could find a new way to detect
pancreatic cancer just imagine we'll be
all to do together thank you
Jack do you have an agent
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