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  1. #1
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    Teenager finds way to detect pancreatic cancer but is rejected by 197 scientists

    So this teenager found a way to detect pancreatic cancer... yet when he asked for help from scientists, 197 rejected him directly, some even telling him it would not work without even testing his idea. And guess what? Seems his idea kind of works in a 90% proportion.
    What happened to those times when scientists actually tried to find new ways to do things, to cure diseases, to actually be engines of innovation? Now they're all stuck in boxes and reject any new idea anyone has without even trying to see if it could be done acting as more breaks to innovation instead of engines of it. That's pathetic. No wonder it takes so much to find cures to anything with this way of thinking.


    http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/01/27/jack-andraka

    "When you were 15, chances are, revolutionizing medicine wasn't among your after-school activities. But for 15-year-old Jack Andraka, it's par for the course. The high school sophomore recently developed a revolutionary new test for early-stage pancreatic cancer. This, before he could legally drive a car.

    This past December, Andraka won Intel’s prestigious Gordon E. Moore Award along with other top honors at the corporation’s annual Science and Engineering Fair, the world’s largest high school research and science competition. Jack Andraka created a simple dip-stick sensor to test for levels of mesothelin, which is a biomarker for early-stage pancreatic cancer that’s found in blood and urine. The method is similar to diabetic testing strips, utilizing just a pinprick of blood and costing all of three cents to make.

    Jack Andraka was moved by the frustrating realities of pancreatic cancer, a particularly lethal form of the disease, after a family friend passed away from it. But it wasn't until he was sitting in class sometime later that a solution struck him. Andraka tells TakePart, “I came up with the idea when I was in science class. I was supposed to be paying attention, but then I had this epiphany.”

    What’s so revolutionary about Andraka's epiphany, aside from possibly being the most inexpensive medical test ever devised, is that current methods for pancreatic cancer detection are woefully ineffective—for the most part, they're unable to uncover the presence of the disease until it’s in its final stages, long after it could respond to treatment. That's why the American Cancer Society reports that on average, the one-year survival rate for a patient is just 20 percent, and the five-year rate is a dismal four percent.

    However, Andraka’s prize-winning invention means patients could be armed with a simple method to detect the disease in its earliest incarnations, before it becomes invasive and when it still has a chance to respond to medical care. Early detection could bump up survival rates dramatically, edging them "close to 100 percent" according to Andraka. And for a disease that takes the lives of approximately 40,000 people each year, that's saying a lot.

    But this is about more than pancreatic cancer. Andraka explains his strips can be altered to detect biomarkers for other conditions as well. “What’s so cool about that is its applicability to other diseases…for example other forms of cancer, tuberculosis, HIV, environmental contaminants like E Coli, salmonella,” he says. “All for three cents for a test that takes five minutes to run.”

    He has big plans to turn the medical community on its ear by mass marketing his work, making it widely available. He says, “Essentially what I’m envisioning here is that this could be on your shelf at your Walgreens, your Kmart. Let’s say you suspect you have a condition…you buy the test for that. And you can see immediately if you have it. Instead of your doctor being the doctor, you’re the doctor.” The teenager reports that he’s already in talks with major corporations like LabCorp and QuestDiagnostics to bring his kits to store shelves “as soon as possible,” though how long that may actually take isn’t yet known.

    But if it seems like everything comes easily to the Maryland student, don't be fooled. While in the process of soliciting area labs for research space, he was rejected by 197 scientists, some of whom told him quite plainly his theory couldn't possibly work. Only one person said yes, but it turned out to be the right person—Dr. Anirban Maitra, a professor of pathology and oncology at Johns Hopkins University, who also became Jack's mentor.

    It's easy to chalk up Jack Andraka's success to the luck that comes with being brilliant—he is ridiculously smart. But there's more to him than that. His innate sense of social justice tells him that in a country as developed as ours, the fact that we have so many people dying every day of what could be a treatable disease is a wrong he intends to make right. "What motivates me is that 100 people die every day from pancreatic cancer. And so when I'm working I think those 100 people are who I'm working for today.""

    And this is relevant:
    Quote Originally Posted by Ninotchka View Post
    This kid is vaguely local to me, so I've been following the story on our local news outlets. Yes, he was rejected by a lot of different scientists, but there are LOTS of labs in this part of Maryland.

    Here's a more detailed article from Forbes that describes the process better:

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupb...cer-treatment/

    And his method has been tested and it works. The article states that a couple of drug companies are bidding on the rights to put his test strips into production.

    Check out his wiki article for even more information.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Andraka

    Andraka cultured MIA PaCa cells, from a commercial pancreatic carcinoma cell line, which overexpress mesothelin, a biomarker for pancreatic cancer. The mesothelin was isolated, concentrated and quantified with ELISA.[5] After optimization with the Western Blot assay, the human mesothelin-specific antibodies were mixed with single walled carbon nanotubes and used to coat strips of ordinary filter paper. This made the paper conductive. The optimal layering was determined using a scanning electron microscope. Cell media spiked with varying amounts of mesothelin was then tested against to the paper biosensor and any change in the electrical potential of the sensor strip (due to the changing conductivity of the nanotubes) was measured, before and after each application. Specifically, what happened was this:

    “ The antibodies would bind to the mesothelin and enlarge. These beefed-up molecules would spread the nanotubes farther apart, changing the electrical properties of the network: The more mesothelin present, the more antibodies would bind and grow big, and the weaker the electrical signal would become.[7] ”

    A dose-response curve was constructed with an R2 value of 99.92%. Tests on human blood serum obtained from both healthy people and patients with chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (a precursor to pancreatic carcinoma), or pancreatic cancer showed a similar response. The sensor’s limit of detection sensitivity was found to be 0.156 ng/mL; 10 ng/mL is considered the level of overexpression of mesothelin consistent with pancreatic cancer. Andraka's sensor costs $3.00 and 10 tests can be performed per strip, taking 5 minutes each. The method is 168 times faster, 26,667 times less expensive, and 400 times more sensitive than ELISA, and 25% to 50% more accurate than the CA10-9 test.[5]

    Officials at Intel have said that Andraka's method is more than 90 percent accurate in detecting the presence of mesothelin.[1]
    Last edited by mmoc994dcc48c2; 2013-01-30 at 04:20 PM.

  2. #2
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    Why would you cure it when you get a buttload of money of it? now i don't agree with that, but money sure does.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by kaiz View Post
    [video=youtube;6kNx20BPyic]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kNx20B

    Why would you cure it when you get a buttload of money of it? now i don't agree with that, but money sure does.

    Only the medical companies might be motivated by money. Hospitals sure as hell aren't. If they can spend less I'm pretty sure they'd be happy to do so.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by kaiz View Post
    Why would you cure it when you get a buttload of money of it? now i don't agree with that, but money sure does.
    This is quite unfortunate but true. With the money for all the treatments and drugs, people who make money off that want to make sure a cure doesn't get released or their money would go away.

  5. #5
    The Patient holyevil44's Avatar
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    197 scientist reject him because they could not make money of it, even if they had a magic pill they would not sell it to you because they would not make enough money of the pill.


    tldr money rule the world deal whit it

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    Until this has been published in peer reviewed journals, and replicated, it's still "cold fusion" territory. People said the power companies were suppressing cold fusion too, and all sorts of crap like that. I'd love if it were true, because then in just 5 years we'd have free energy and amazing medicine, and who-knows-what else. But these stories, overwhelmingly, tend not to be true.

    Now, conspiracy theories can be a form of social commentary. We use them in WoW, making ridiculous conspiracy theories to explain developer decisions, when what we're really saying is that their motivations are so flawed that the conspiracy theory might as well be true. Not that it's really true. It's satire. But it's one thing to do it on a gaming forum, poking fun at developers. It's another thing to present it as a news item about science and medicine. It's far less excusable there.

  7. #7
    ITT : non-scientists using their "hurr durr money iz bad" macro.

    Scientists aren't convinced by teenagers saying "hey, that works". You have to prove it works and, once it is proven, you have to explain it clearly (something I doubt a teenager is capable of).

    Early detection could bump up survival rates dramatically, edging them "close to 100 percent" according to Andraka.
    Eating bananas cures AIDS, ACCORDING TO ME, please gimmuh money.

    I still don't see anything in that article saying it has been tested, only that one guy has decided to give him a try.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by kaiz View Post
    Why would you cure it when you get a buttload of money of it? now i don't agree with that, but money sure does.
    So why doesn't someone hire him? Do you know how much a patent like this may be worth?

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Authary View Post
    Eating bananas cures AIDS, ACCORDING TO ME, please gimmuh money.
    Thanks. Now I want a banana. :I
    If you are particularly bold, you could use a Shiny Ditto. Do keep in mind though, this will infuriate your opponents due to Ditto's beauty. Please do not use Shiny Ditto. You have been warned.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Rukentuts View Post
    So why doesn't someone hire him? Do you know how much a patent like this may be worth?
    No, man... nobody would give you money to cure their cancer... that's absurd!

    The people who think this way are probably the same ones who'll tell you that vaccines don't do anything (other than cost money and give you autism, obviously), because they've never personally experienced the things that vaccines prevent... thanks to the vaccines... herp a derp.
    "Quack, quack, Mr. Bond."

  11. #11
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    Sounds phony but interesting enough. Scientists refusing to test this is still weird. It would be nice for someone to check this to see if it actually works.

  12. #12
    This (way of detection and money thing) being true, is just another example why public healthcare > private healthcare

  13. #13
    Merely a Setback Reeve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Noomz View Post
    Only the medical companies might be motivated by money. Hospitals sure as hell aren't. If they can spend less I'm pretty sure they'd be happy to do so.
    People living longer means more money for drug companies, not less. Cure disease X, and the person will just live long enough to contract disease Y, and in the meantime they'll be sucking down your Lipitor, Flomax, and Levitra. Keeping people alive longer is extremely good business for pharmaceutical companies and for hospitals.
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  14. #14
    I don't see why this wouldn't make people money. If pancreatic cancer is detected in later stages and isn't treatable, the medical profession can't make money on not treating the person. But if they can detect the cancer in its early stages while it's still treatable, they can make much more. It makes sense to me that this should be tested before it's dismissed.
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  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by kaiz View Post


    Why would you cure it when you get a buttload of money of it? now i don't agree with that, but money sure does.
    money money money hoes money. money young money money bitches hoes money. young cash. bitches hoes cash money. money cash young bitches money money money.
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  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Knight Gil View Post
    This (way of detection and money thing) being true, is just another example why public healthcare > private healthcare
    Anyone who thinks money is a factor has no clue how the US Patent System works.

    In the U.S., a patent is a right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, exporting components to be assembled into an infringing device outside the U.S., importing the product of a patented process practiced outside the U.S., inducing others to infringe, offering a product specially adapted for practice of the patent, and a few other very carefully defined categories.
    i.e. when your patent is valid you make ass-tons of money.
    Last edited by Rukentuts; 2013-01-30 at 02:33 PM.

  17. #17
    Merely a Setback Reeve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rukentuts View Post
    Anyone who thinks money is a factor has no clue how the US Patent System works.

    i.e. when your patent is valid you make ass-tons of money.
    If the kid is right in this working, he should patent it now himself and then sell or license the patent for boatloads.
    'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
    Or a yawing hole in a battered head
    And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
    And there they lay I damn me eyes
    All lookouts clapped on Paradise
    All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Reeve View Post
    If the kid is right in this working, he should patent it now himself and then sell or license the patent for boatloads.
    Which is why if he is right in his working, I would imagine all sorts of healthcare companies extending him all sorts of offers in an attempt to gain the patent for themselves when he is an employee.

  19. #19
    This kid is vaguely local to me, so I've been following the story on our local news outlets. Yes, he was rejected by a lot of different scientists, but there are LOTS of labs in this part of Maryland.

    Here's a more detailed article from Forbes that describes the process better:

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupb...cer-treatment/

    And his method has been tested and it works. The article states that a couple of drug companies are bidding on the rights to put his test strips into production.

    Check out his wiki article for even more information.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Andraka

    Andraka cultured MIA PaCa cells, from a commercial pancreatic carcinoma cell line, which overexpress mesothelin, a biomarker for pancreatic cancer. The mesothelin was isolated, concentrated and quantified with ELISA.[5] After optimization with the Western Blot assay, the human mesothelin-specific antibodies were mixed with single walled carbon nanotubes and used to coat strips of ordinary filter paper. This made the paper conductive. The optimal layering was determined using a scanning electron microscope. Cell media spiked with varying amounts of mesothelin was then tested against to the paper biosensor and any change in the electrical potential of the sensor strip (due to the changing conductivity of the nanotubes) was measured, before and after each application. Specifically, what happened was this:

    “ The antibodies would bind to the mesothelin and enlarge. These beefed-up molecules would spread the nanotubes farther apart, changing the electrical properties of the network: The more mesothelin present, the more antibodies would bind and grow big, and the weaker the electrical signal would become.[7] ”

    A dose-response curve was constructed with an R2 value of 99.92%. Tests on human blood serum obtained from both healthy people and patients with chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (a precursor to pancreatic carcinoma), or pancreatic cancer showed a similar response. The sensor’s limit of detection sensitivity was found to be 0.156 ng/mL; 10 ng/mL is considered the level of overexpression of mesothelin consistent with pancreatic cancer. Andraka's sensor costs $3.00 and 10 tests can be performed per strip, taking 5 minutes each. The method is 168 times faster, 26,667 times less expensive, and 400 times more sensitive than ELISA, and 25% to 50% more accurate than the CA10-9 test.[5]

    Officials at Intel have said that Andraka's method is more than 90 percent accurate in detecting the presence of mesothelin.[1]
    Last edited by Ninotchka; 2013-01-30 at 02:44 PM.

  20. #20
    The Normal Kasierith's Avatar
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    All he found was a manner of testing that indicates the concentration of mesothelin in the blood. I really couldn't care less about his humanitarian views in this instance; either he establishes the link between mesothelin and early stage pancreatic cancer or he doesn't.

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