NEW JERSEY: An Indian-American teenager from New Jersey won the Junior Nobel Prize for her research on treating brain injury and disease. Indrani Das, 17, won the top prize at the Regeneron Science Talent Search Competition, which happens to be America's oldest and most prestigious high school science and math competition.
Das' work looked to boost the survival rate of neurons. In a laboratory model, she showed that the exosomes isolated from astrocytes transfected with microRNA-124a both improved astrocyte uptake of glutamate and increased neuron survival. A neuron's death is caused by astrogliosis, a condition that occurs when cells called astrocytes react to injury by growing, dividing, and reducing their uptake of glutamate, which in excess is toxic to neurons.
Das, who also won $2,50,000 along with the coveted prize, is not the only Indian-American teen on the list. Arjun Ramani who took the third prize for his project on networks, used the mathematical field of graph theory and computer programming. He won $1,50,000. A total of 13 Indian-Americans were seen in the finals of the esteemed competition for students.
