Story by Canadore News.
Grade 10 West Ferris Secondary School students Caleb Charette and Riley Geisler’s genetic research project shows how passionate they are about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
See: Science Fair success
Strong biology and medicine enthusiasts, Charette and Geisler won the TransCanada Award, the Lalonde Family Award in Biology and Medicine and a gold medal in the intermediate biotechnology category at the 2015 Regional Science Fair for their science project, Synthetic 3D Printed Heart.
The pair is now working on new genetic research, in particular genome editing through the use of technology known as CRISPR/cas9 to study the effect on cancer patients’ malignant cells.
The high school students have been motivated to pursue this initiative not only because it is the logical next step in their research, but also in an attempt to help a friend made at the CWSF recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Charette and Riley are raising funds to visit Dr. Jerry Pelletier, professor of biochemistry at McGill University and to work alongside specialists in the hopes of developing the research needed to prepare an application for the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair and be part of Team Canada 2017.
To date, the students have received local professional, technical and mentorship support for their research from Innovation Initiatives Ontario North (iion) and Canadore College’s Innovation Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Production (ICAMP). The organizations also supported the youths with a financial contribution of $2,500 and $500 respectively, towards their $5,000 fundraising goal.
“Riley and Caleb are two unbelievably gifted students,” said Rob Deline, executive director at iion. “Their research is extremely impressive and stands to make a huge difference in STEM research and treatment application. I strongly encourage the community to consider donating to these bright students to help them evolve their research to the next step.”
Charette and Geisler leave for Montreal, Que. this Sunday. To donate a financial gift, please visit their Go Fund Me page.
