Burnt Hills And Academy Of Holy Names Students Compete In National Science Competition [AUDIO]

Kathleen Bashant and Kathrine Picchione are local girls with big ideas and they are going toe to toe with some of the brightest minds in the world this week at The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh, PA.

Kathleen Bashant from Ballston Lake, NY – She is an 18 yr old senior from Burnt Hills - Ballston Lake High School with a cellular & molecular biology project – I lowered levels of a protein, p38, in human cells. Lyme disease-infected cells with lower levels of p38 produced higher levels of symptom-causing regulatory proteins (cytokines) and lower levels of different cytokines that prevent symptoms. This suggests that a therapeutic aimed at increasing levels of this protein could attack Lyme infections from two angles – by lowering levels of the cytokines that cause damage and increasing levels of cytokines that prevent damage.

Katherine Picchione from Albany, NY – She is a 17 yr old senior from Academy of the Holy Names with an energy project – She designed a system that decomposes organic waste. like compost, to create natural gas and electric current.  The interesting thing about her system is that it has the potential to bring energy to remote parts of the world and reduce waste at the same time.

Listen to the ladies explain their ideas on today's Sean and Richie Show.