Friday, November 4th, 2016
HERNDON, Va. (ABC7) — 13-year-old Alex Misiaszek goes about his Friday, at Nysmith School for the Gifted in Herndon, just like any other 8th grader.
“Alright, let’s see what we can come up with,” Misiaszek said, smiling.
He says he’s on his way to helping find a cure for cancer.
“I’m really glad that I can hopefully help people with this cancer cure, that’s really my main goal in life is to help as many people as I can,” said Misiaszek.
He says after his grandfather passed away from cancer, he wanted to work to find a cure.
“I’ve always been fascinated by the disease because it’s such a terrible thing and I thought there had to be some sort of a solution,” he said.
He’s taking his 7th grade science project to the next level.
“Imagine these two weights are cells and the one without the red is the healthy cell and the one with the red is the cancer cell. And these two marbles are the MP1 molecules,” said Misiaszek, demonstrating how his project would work.
He says after presenting his idea this fall, a team of researchers at the Baltimore Underground Science Space are planning to help him along the way.
“In the cancer cell, the MP1 molecule can actually bind to the cell membrane and bore large holes in it, thus causing the cell to die,” he further explained.
He says he’s still in the early steps of making his project a reality.
Tom Burkett, the Founder of the Baltimore Underground Science Space, says they are excited to work with Misiaszek and thought his project was a great idea. They plan to offer advice and support along the way. Msiaszek says he’s planning to work on the project at the Baltimore Underground Science Space about once a week.
See video of Alex and the article on WJLA.com here: http://wjla.com/news/local/13-year-old-working-to-help-find-a-cure-for-cancer