In September, 20 teenagers received the news that they are the 2024 finalists and/or Regional Champions of Yuri Milner’s Breakthrough Junior Challenge.
When applications for the competition opened, more than 2,300 teenagers from over 200 countries entered. This meant that when the judging process kicked off in June, there were almost 30,000 videos to consider.
The journey to choosing the finalists has passed through several phases, most recently the Popular Vote. This phase sees the public vote for their favorite videos on social media and crown their Regional Champions. The overall Popular Vote winner, Lehnaaz Rana, has landed a spot in the final, skipping the last stage of judging.
Now, the Selection Committee is choosing the top five videos to join hers. The champion, who wins fantastic prizes, will then be selected. They will land a $250,000 college scholarship, $50,000 for a teacher who inspired them, and a $150,000 science lab for their school.
Here’s an overview of the videos that the Popular Vote winner, one of the Regional Champions, and two of the finalists created.
1. Popular Vote Winner: 17-Year-Old Lehnaaz Rana From India
Lehnaaz won the Popular Vote with her video on OHP cancer treatment, which received more than 16,000 reactions on social media.
In her video, she uses a traffic animation to help viewers understand the formation of cancer in the body. The traffic lights in her animation represent micro RNAs, which direct gene activity. The traffic lights malfunction and give continuous green signals, representing cells dividing uncontrollably and causing cancer.
Lehnaaz introduces OHPs, which use the body’s DNA to repair this damage. She explains how scientists create these hairpin-shaped DNA structures and how they attack cancer cells to cure the disease without causing side effects.
2. Regional Champion: 18-Year-Old Alejandro Polo From Panama
Alejandro’s video attracted more reactions than any other in Central and South America. He is the Regional Champion of this area.
In his video, Alejandro unpacks the difference between proteins and prions. The latter are proteins that become misfolded during the folding process, when proteins transform from their inactive state to their native state.
Alejandro refers to prions as the “evil twin” of the healthy protein. He explores why they’re so harmful and introduces the diseases they can cause (like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s). He also explains that when prions come into contact with a healthy protein, they pass on their misfolding and multiply at scale.
Although prions are dangerous, Alejandro explains that scientists have used these to develop their understanding of protein folding. Now, they can enhance their knowledge of the immune system and potentially develop super proteins that treat diseases.
3. Finalist: 17-Year-Old Addison Shea From the U.S.
In Addison’s video, she explains that early stem cells become muscle or bone cells. Although these cells have the same DNA, they produce different proteins. But why? Addison explains that they become different types of cells through chromatin regulation.
She uses a fun pasta-cooking analogy to walk through two chromatin regulation processes, explaining how DNA methylation and histone acetylation processes work and differ.
4. Finalist: 18-Year-Old Evelynn Moorman From the U.S.
In Evelynn’s video, she explains that cell phones know the time of day based on cell towers. She goes deeper, explaining that cell towers know the time based on satellites, which know the time based on the average of many atomic clocks.
Evelynn explains that using the Earth’s rotation to measure time doesn’t give accurate results because natural disasters cause the Earth’s rotation to vary. She uses animated chalkboard drawings to explain why atomic clocks are so much more accurate.
Like Addison and Lehnaaz, Evelynn is awaiting the contest results and could be the next Breakthrough Junior Challenge champion.
View the Breakthrough Junior Challenge finalists’ and Regional Champions’ videos.
About Breakthrough Junior Challenge Co-Founder Yuri Milner
Aside from co-founding the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, Yuri Milner is also one of the founders behind the Breakthrough Prize, Breakthrough Initiatives, and Tech For Refugees. On top of this, the Giving Pledge signatory is the author of the short book Eureka Manifesto: The Mission for Our Civilization.