Science competition comfirms her as a BioGENEius

In a lot of ways, Prarthana Dalal has the markers of any other easy-going and motivated recent high school graduate. </p><p>She played in the marching and symphonic bands and did debate. She enjoys volunteering and dance. She&#x2019;s looking forward to starting college this fall. </p><p>She&#x2019;s also the researcher behind a project called &#x201C;Modeling of human non-deletional hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH) conditions in &#xE2;-globin locus transgenic mouse models: The -175 (T to C) and -195 (C to G) A-gamma globin gene point mutations.&#x201D;</p><p>In non-high school genius terms, she examined how reactivating a fetal gene could reduce the severity of sickle cell symptoms in adults.</p><p>&#x201C;The work she does for the rest of her career is probably going to change the way we see sickle cell,&#x201D; said Angela Kreps, president of the biotechnology organization KansasBio. </p><p>The research garnered Dalal, 17, a win at an international biotechnology competition last week. She was one of three Kansas students who competed in the U.S. National BioGENEius Challenge in Washington, D.C. Dalal, a Leawood resident and recent graduate of Shawnee Mission East High School, was one of 300 contest applicants. Two other Kansas students &#x2014; Megan Smith of Lenexa and Sarina Farb of LeCompton &#x2014; also made it to the national level.</p><p>At the international level, Dalal competed against the 10 U.S. finalists and students from Canada and Australia. The researchers presented projects to scientists, biotechnology industry executives and educators. The competition was sponsored by the Biotechnology Institute and held during the 2011 Biotechnology Industry Organization International Convention, which was expected to attract about 15,000 people. </p><p>&#x201C;The students are high school students, but the research they are doing is very advanced,&#x201D; said Janelle Curtis, vice president of programs at the BioTechnology Institute. </p><p>Dalal didn&#x2019;t start out doing advanced research; when she was little she used to do small experiments. </p><p>&#x201C;As long as I can remember, I have always been interested in science,&#x201D; she said. &#x201C;It&#x2019;s a great field that has mystery, but is still objective.&#x201D;</p><p>But a growing passion for research found an outlet as she progressed through school. </p><p>When Dalal was in eighth grade, Kenneth Peterson of the University of Kansas Medical Center judged a science fair where she was competing. After hearing her oral report, Peterson gave her his card and told her to call him if she had interest in working in a scientific research lab. </p><p>&#x201C;You can see the talent in kids when they are young,&#x201D; Peterson said. &#x201C;You want to encourage them to do something.&#x201D;</p><p>But Dalal wasn&#x2019;t the first young student to be passed Peterson&#x2019;s card, and he wasn&#x2019;t sure he would hear from her. Not too many students end up taking the initiative to reach out. About a year later, though, she contacted Peterson. </p><p>Dalal knew Peterson&#x2019;s lab worked with sickle cell disease. After a summer volunteering with sickle cell disease patients in India, Dalal had found an area of research she knew she wanted to pursue. </p><p>Even as the list of Dalal&#x2019;s scholarships and awards grew during her years at the lab, Peterson said she remained humble and easy-going, always relating well to people she works with. </p><p>&#x201C;She shows a lot of promise and could make some major breakthroughs down the line in whatever she ends up studying,&#x201D; Peterson said. &#x201C;I&#x2019;ll be hard put to find another high school student as good as she is.&#x201D; </p><p>Dalal will attend Northwestern University in the fall. She was accepted into the honors medical program &#x2014; a seven-year combined bachelor and medical degree program. She plans to pursue a doctorate in addition to a medical degree so she can work in the academic side of the medical field.</p><p>&#x201C;I&#x2019;ve had so many great teachers and mentors,&#x201D; she said. &#x201C;I want to be able to do that for the next high school student.

What are some nice and easy science experiments for kids? | Toys ...

I want to get my 5 year old nephew interested in some science thinking. I know it’s pretty early, but he is quite inquisitive and I like showing him fun experiments. I’ve shown him some stuff with a gyroscope (which seemed a little advanced), as well as some kitchen science (like growing salt crystals), as well as that coke & mentos thing.

take your average number two pensil,in the middle…tie a string to it.next fill a glass half full with salt water.put the pensil on the top of the glass making sure the string is in the water.wait a few days ( a week maybe) and the water will have evaporated and the salt will have formed crystals on the string.this teaches kids about evaporation,its very cool!

Take two empty 2 litter soda bottles with one bottle three quarters full of water and some tape. Attach the empty 2 litter bottle with the tape putting the two openings together . Pick up the bottles and swill the bottles in a clockwise direction quickly and turn over in order to have the water go into the empty bottle and watch the water. It’s real cool check it out.

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