Canadian Biotechnology Education Resource Centre, Toronto
12 May, 2005
Top winners: Winnipeg, Edmonton, Vancouver, Cape Breton, Ottawa, St. John’s
Teen Scientist from Winnipeg to Compete for Canada in Philadelphia June 17-20
Canada Announces Almost $1 Million for Future Competition
Ground-breaking research by an 18-year-old Manitoba student that contributes to the global search for an HIV/AIDS vaccine has earned top prize in the 2005 National Aventis Biotech Challenge, announced today in a ceremony at the National Research Council.
Grade 12 student Will Turk won with a study into the genetic riddle of why some sex trade workers in Kenya show an apparent immunity from HIV-AIDS despite constant exposure to the virus. He found associations between particular variations of the HLA-G gene and infection, a discovery that could lead to a method of preventing HIV (see details below).
Turk of Winnipeg (1st), Tracy Mah of Edmonton, (2nd), and Janet Freilich of Vancouver (3rd) were followed by a tie for 4th place: Joanna McNeil of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, and the team of Ghadi Antoun and Marisa Rossi of Ottawa.
Ronan MacParland and Sara Small of St. John’s, Newfoundland finished 5th earning a $1,000 prize and were awarded a further $1,000 special prize for the project judged to have the greatest commercial potential. The Holy Heart of Mary high school students worked to identify a compound in green tea that blocks UV, opening the door to the commercial realization of an all-natural sunscreen.
Turk won the $5,000 top Canadian prize after a cross-country series of student presentations via videoconference yesterday to a panel of judges at the National Research Council in Ottawa. He will now represent Canada at the 2005 sanofi-aventis International BioGENEius Challenge in Philadelphia, June 17-20.
News release in full: click here
Coverage by The Canadian Press, click here
Coverage summary: click here