Teen Texas researcher earns $150,000 for clam-based leukemia drug tests
Seventeen-year-old Iris Shen of The Woodlands, Texas, secured third place and a $150,000 prize in the Regeneron Science Talent Search for demonstrating that a leukemia drug works similarly in clams as it does in human cells.
In the Regeneron Science Talent Search, 17-year-old Iris Shen from The Woodlands, Texas, earned third place and a $150,000 award for her animal sciences investigation using marine clams that naturally develop a blood cancer similar to human leukemia. Her experiments revealed that a candidate drug decreased the proportion of cancer cells and altered lipid levels in clam tumors in a manner comparable to results seen in human cell studies.
A second trial showed that a mixture of two additional compounds curtailed tumor growth while leaving non-cancerous cells unharmed. The Society for Science noted that Shen’s clam model could make early-stage drug discovery more cost-effective and ethically sound, addressing concerns about the high number of vertebrate animals used in research. Shen also serves as president of the Teach 2 Learn nonprofit, which runs STEM workshops for middle-schoolers, and she contributes her artistic talents to charitable auctions. Her achievement underscores the potential of unconventional animal models in accelerating cancer therapeutics.
Why it matters
The discovery offers a cheaper, ethical alternative for early leukemia drug testing, potentially speeding up treatment development.
In this story
