40 of them |

Not quite the culmination- but the week of “Spring Ahead” is a major one for those who’ve been working since “Fall Back”.

Huh?”, you ask.

This past week the contestants in the “Society for Science & the Public” were notified who were the finalists. SSP, you ask? It’s the more formal name for the Intel Science Talent Search (STS). For the past 19 years, Intel has been the sponsor of the Science Talent Search, picking up the slack since 1997, when westinghouse ceased being its own company. (Westinghouse was the sponsor of the science fairs of my youth, before it became part of CBS – yes, CBS tv.)

These science fairs began during a long-gone era, the years of the Second World War (1942). Next year, Intel will abandon its sponsorship of the STS. In 2019, they will cease sponsoring the newer International Science and Engineering Fair.

The Roster of the 40 Finalists

I do wonder which company will be the new underwriter. I don’t wonder if the fairs will continue. Not given the quality of the entrants and what they portend for STEM and the world. 40 finalists- one from the high school I (barely) attended (John F. Kennedy in Bellmore NY); one from a new high school that opened up some 8 years ago due to overcrowding in the two extant Ann Arbor (MI) high schools; one from the Thomas Jefferson High School (VA, actually suburban DC) about which I’ve written often; and two (yes, 2) from Montgomery Blair High School in Maryland (actually suburban DC). (Information on these fantastic 40 kids can be found here.)

But, one of the finalist’s research resonated with me. Demetri Maxim from Bangor, Maine. His topic? Directed Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells into Mature Kidney Cells that Form Nephron Structures in Kidney Scaffolds. I’ve written about this subject matter- and goaded y’all into asking Congress to lift the ban on stem cell research. For just this reason. To help folks who need organs to survive.

And, as opposed to my life-long interest in dialysis and kidneys, Demetri’s interest is personal. He suffers from polycystic kidney disease. His mother survives because she received a kidney transplant, but his grandfather and great-grandfather succumbed to this hereditary disorder.

His search started out by scouring the literature, finding out what has and has not worked before. He took online tutorials in stem cell techniques and the use of scaffolds. Luckily, Demetri also found a qualified mentor at Harvard, who also provided him with laboratory facilities.

Demetri has induced skin cells (there is a whole layer of specialized stem cells in our skin- it’s how we regenerate new skin after wounds and punctures) to convert into kidney cells. And, using techniques similar to the ones I‘ve described (here’s the most recent– it will let you work your way back to prior citations), he managed to get the mouse tissue to function, and merge into a live mouse’s functioning kidney.

No, it’s not ready for prime time yet. It also hasn’t brought functionality to a mouse with no operational kidneys. And, it certainly hasn’t made it to humans.

But, remember, Demetri’s only in high school…

From big dreams do big changes come.