Canadian teen finds potential cure for cystic fibrosis

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Canadian teenager Marshall Zhang won first prize at a science competition for finding a potential cure for cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic illness that is caused by a mutated gene on chromosome 7. The mutated gene produces a defective protein that causes mucus and sweat in victims to be denser than in healthy individuals. Zhang suspected that a combination of two drugs would work better than single-drug therapy, as the drugs worked on different parts of the protein. He used the Canadian SCINET supercomputing system to test his theory, and when he tested it on living cells the results were better than he had predicted.

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News & Politics

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• cystic fibrosis
• Marshall Zhang
• SCINET
• CFTR
• health
• medical