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Jack Andraka

by Leah Kolodziej from San Diego, California in United States

130828Jack Andraka, Inventor (XPRIZE Foundation)Flickr: Visioneery 2013Jack Andraka was an ordinary boy at an ordinary school with an ordinary life,

until the day he devised the idea that pancreatic cancer can be detected with enough time to successfully treat the patient involved, without any extensive medical treatment. It all started in his hometown of Crownsville, Maryland where he sat at the desk with which he was assigned, and while he listened with half of an ear to the man in the front of the classroom. It was his high school science class, and Andraka was contemplating next level sciences that his classmates couldn’t even fathom yet.What sparked the idea that changed his life and the lives of others was that earlier that year, a close family friend of his passed away due to undetected pancreatic cancer, and while Jack was left distraught and upset, he still managed to turn his passionate emotions into something that could be used to benefit those in need. Andraka was able to compose a new, inexpensive way to detect diseases such as pancreatic, lung, and ovarian cancers. That in itself helps allude to the ideas and concepts involved with being a hero, furthermore, a true hero is someone who does the things they do willingly as well as someone who is humble, ambitious, hardworking, and committed to helping others. Along with that, to be a hero one must be charitable and selfless, accurate in what they conclude, and willing to share their knowledge to inspire and help the rest of the world. Jack Andraka is a hero because of the fact that he worked for months on end to come up with a successful detectant for ovarian, pancreatic, and lung cancers, as well as the fact that he did what he did out of the goodness of his heart, rather than for fame or fortune. He proved to be caring and passionate about helping others while simultaneously remaining selfless and humble for his discoveries, therefore setting a good example for society to look up to.

Andraka is a hero because he accomplished what he did out of pure passion and consideration rather than for fame or fortune. A few months before the day he succeeded in creating a working detectant for pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancers, a close family friend of his whom he looked up to, passed away due to undetected pancreatic cancer. “A close friend of his family had recently died of pancreatic cancer, and Andraka had been reading about the disease” (Tucker). Although the circumstances were not in his favor, Jack’s close friends’ passing helped inspire him to come up with the detectant and turn his frustration and intense emotion into focusing on creating the product in order to help the cause as well as relieve other families of the emotions he was faced with. Jack was also aware of the fact that most products out at the time to detects those types of cancers were very expensive. He knew he had to make not only an inexpensive detectant, but also one that was equally as effective and as easy access as possible. “These tests are way too expensive and invasive to give to everyone. ‘I was sure there had to be a better way,’ Jack says. He wanted a simple test that could catch the disease before it spreads” (LOSAW< JEREMY). With his idea, he used his prior knowledge from his high school science class, as well as the knowledge he had obtained while researching the topic on his own time, and was able to come up with a solution to the problem. “Then he coated small strips of paper with the antibody. To see how reliable the strips were at detecting mesothelin, Jack mixed up solutions with different concentrations of the biomarker and dipped the strips into them” (LOSAW< JEREMY). The strips he came up with worked perfectly and he was able then test out the product on other cancers such as ovarian and lung cancer. With those succeeding as well, he submitted them to other scientists to test out, and when the results came back successful he knew he had come up with one of the first ever functioning, easy access detectors of pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancer. Andraka not only proved to be a hero because he came up with the detectant, as well as worked on it for several months on end, but also because he was simultaneously in high school and balancing his teenage life with science. His hard work was fueled by love and care for those around the world, as well as the fact that he didn’t want anyone to have to feel the emotions he underwent after his close family friend passed away.

Additionally to his great compassion and love for others, Andraka displays his heroic    behaviors by working proficiently and continuously to create the detective, while also balancing his own status quo and life in high school as a fourteen year old freshman. Jack shows great compassion and determination, and is inspiring because even when times got hard for him and his family, he stuck with what he was passionate about and never gave up. Jack stayed up endless hours and had to learn to balance school as well as his project for around seven months in order to finish in the time that he did, and in order to prove himself to Dr.Anirban Maitra who took him under his wing and let him use his laboratory for this experiment. “...Dr Anirban Maitra, an expert in pancreatic cancer at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, offered Jack a corner of his lab to work in, under supervision” (Daily Mail). Jack had to learn how to balance time, as well as be professional towards his colleagues, but thanks to his determination, he was able to  achieve his goal and benefit society. Similarly to his heroic compassion and efficiency, Jack shows great abiton for helping inspire others and for spreading his product around the world. Jack won many awards and used the platform he obtained to help inspire those around the world to take their chances and see what happens when they work hard to achieve their goals. “When his test for detecting pancreatic cancer won the top award at a prestigious international science competition in 2012, his wild celebrations at the awards ceremony went viral. He was interviewed by CNN and the BBC, and had to fit school assignments around invitations to meet world leaders and give TED talks” (Daily Mail).  With all the attention that was brought to him from the media, Andraka made it clear that he didn’t just discover a way to detect pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancer, but that it took time and hard work, and also that anyone could do it and if they just put in enough effort, they can accomplish whatever they aspire to. “I always tell them it definitely does get better. While it sounds like a cliche, it's totally true. My life now [at age 18] is completely different from what it was back in middle school. I mean you never know what possibilities are ahead of you, so look forward to the future rather than dwelling on the past about mean bullies who are trying to pull you down” (Lane, Laura). Jack used his platform to help spread the message that even when things are looking down, it gets better, and that if you can be determined and focused on your goals, you are more than capable of achieving them. This also supports the proposition that Jack Andraka is a hero because he is determined, compassionate, inspiring, and uses his platform to better society.

Furthermore, Jack Andraka displays many heroic traits such as his compassion and love for others, his determination, and his willingness and desire to better society as a whole. Jack is my personal hero due to all of those reasons, as well as because when I was younger I had ovarian cancer and although the technology had not be created at the time I was in treatment, now I am able to use that simple test whenever I feel it’s necessary to reassure myself that the cancer has not returned. And, I can also have the security of knowing that that technology is available to others around the world, preventing them from going through what I did. Jack Andraka is a hero because he truly cares about society and makes an effort to better himself and others. He is determined and passionate about benefiting those that he can, and he uses his platform to help inspire people around the globe to follow their hearts.

"Jack Andraka." Gale Biography in Context, Gale, 2013. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1650009064/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=c93bb0be . Accessed 15 Jan. 2019.

Tucker, Abigail. "The prodigy: a Maryland high-school sophomore who reads science journals for fun may have invented a new diagnostic test for a deadly form of cancer." Smithsonian, Dec. 2012, p. 68+. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A319615378/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=8748a8b9 . Accessed 15 Jan. 2019.  

Swartz, Clay. "Life Scout Jack Andraka first appeared in Boys' Life in January 2012 after creating an environmental biosensor that detected water pollution." Boys' Life, Mar. 2014, p. 12. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A360357754/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=7ad4e5e5. Accessed 16 Jan. 2019.

"Geeky teen emerges from the lab a superstar." Daily Mail [London, England], 17 Apr. 2015, p. 32. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A410023825/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=b32ae76e. Accessed 16 Jan. 2019.

https://web.b.ebscohost.com/scirc/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=c76eac05-b60d-4295-8724-581a3cdff258%40pdc-v-sessmgr01&bdata=JnNpdGU9c2NpcmMtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=114162732&db=sch

Lane, Laura. "Jack Andraka: teenage cancer researcher uses science to save lives." Muse, Sept. 2015, p. 22+. Student Resources In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A430926699/SUIC?u=powa9245&sid=SUIC&xid=380fe82d. Accessed 18 Jan. 2019.

National Geographic Society. “Learn More about Jack Thomas Andraka.” National Geographic Society, National Geographic, 2018, www.nationalgeographic.org/find-explorers/jack-andraka.



Herper, Matthew. “Why Biotech Whiz Kid Jack Andraka Is Not On The Forbes 30 Under 30 List.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 2 May 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2014/01/08/why-biotech-whiz-kid-jack-andraka-is-not-on-the-forbes-30-under-30-list/.

Martin, Sharlene. “Officlal Site - Jack Andraka.” Officlal Site - Jack Andraka, Book Candy Studios , 2018, www.jackandraka.com/.

“Officlal Site - Jack Andraka.” Officlal Site - Jack Andraka, Book Candy Studios , 2018, www.jackandraka.com/.

Tucker, Abigail. “Jack Andraka, the Teen Prodigy of Pancreatic Cancer.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 1 Dec. 2012, www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/jack-andraka-the-teen-prodigy-of-pancreatic-cancer-135925809/.

 

Page created on 1/31/2019 4:32:30 AM

Last edited 2/4/2019 4:57:03 PM

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