Minnesota teen creates affordable system to detect and halt worm seizures with ultrasound
Eighteen-year-old Evan Morris of Saint Paul built a low-cost setup that spots seizure-like activity in genetically altered worms and stops it with ultrasound, cutting overall seizure events by almost 30%.
Evan Morris, an 18-year-old from Saint Paul, engineered a budget-friendly experimental platform called SILENCE that monitors genetically modified nematodes for seizure-like bursts and intervenes with ultrasound pulses. By inserting an ultrasound-sensitive channel into the worms’ neurons, he enabled the animals to respond to acoustic cues. A computer system continuously scans for abnormal activity and triggers the ultrasound in real time, forming a closed-loop feedback loop.
Laboratory trials showed the system reduced overall seizure activity by almost 30% while allowing rapid testing of different stimulation settings. Morris received the $10,000 Mary Sue Coleman Award for Life Science Innovation & Impact at the 2026 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, and his work also placed first in the Cellular and Molecular Biology category. The invention offers a cheaper, faster way for scientists to explore neuromodulation strategies before moving to more complex models.
Why it matters
The tool could speed up low-cost research on brain-stimulation methods for seizure control.
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