Bioscience Education Canada, Toronto
8-May-2012
Powerful anti-oxidant discovered in tree pulp; Grade 12 researcher wins top honors at national biotech science competition
OTTAWA — An Ontario girl, 16, who invented a disease-fighting, anti-aging compound using nano-particles from trees, won top national honours today in the 2012 Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada (SBCC).
Her super anti-oxidant compound could one day help improve health and anti-aging products by neutralizing more of the harmful free-radicals found in the body. Her research is detailed below.
Janelle Tam, a Grade 12 student at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, was awarded the $5,000 first prize by an impressed panel of eminent Canadian scientists assembled at the Ottawa headquarters of the National Research Council of Canada.
In all, some 13 brilliant students in Grades 11 or 12, all just 16 to 18 years old, took part in the national finals. They were top prize winners of nine regional SBCC competitions conducted nationwide in March and April, events that showcased youthful Canadian talent in the fast-growing field of biotech science.
News release in full: click here
Sample coverage:
Agence France Presse, click here, in French here
Huffington Post, click here
Montreal Gazette, click here
CBC National Radio (As It Happens), click here
The Record (Kitchener, Waterloo), click here
Maclean’s Magazine, click here and here
Press Trust of India, click here
Coverage summary: click here