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May 8, 2009 8:00 pm US/Central
Young Seagoville Scientist Makes Amazing Discovery
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
At the age of 17, it's very possible that a Seagoville student discovered a scientific breakthrough in the treatment of congenital heart disease.
Candace Turner has a keen eye for science and that keen eye uncovered something pretty incredible. "DNA is a double helix. When the DNA doesn't match up, it's called a mutation," explained the Seagoville High School senior. "I was supposed to look for that."
It turns out Turner discovered not one, but four, different mutations. It all started when she signed up for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School's, Science Teacher Access to Resources (STARS) Program. It's sort of a science boot camp.
"You take 25 green, completely know-nothing, high school kids and let them loose in a lab," Dr. Stuart Ravnik said of the students. "Eight weeks later, they're scientists."
Turner spent her time looking at DNA from children with congenital heart disease (CHD); in simple terms, a hole in the heart. "If we can tell that the baby is going to be born with CHD, hopefully we can get them care faster and eventually as science grows we can actually fix the problem before the baby is born," explained Turner.
Out of a hundred samples, Turner found four mutations. Quite a find for any scientist, but for a high school student... well, even her mentor was blown away. "I was really nervous because I saw one and I wasn't sure if I was right," said Turner. "And so I went to her [mentor] and I said I think I found one. She came over to the computer and said, yes, you really did."
The discovery could have a huge impact on the medical community. "We hope that maybe one of them [mutations] is so important that it could lead to a new range of diagnosis and a new range of therapies," said Dr. Ravnik.
Whether or not Turner's discovery makes history it has already had an impact at UT Southwestern. "I was really excited to find the first one, because they were going to give up hope on the project. Because I found it, they're going to continue."
Just a footnote - Turner has accepted a full scholarship to the University of Texas at Arlington and hopes to be a doctor.
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