The Judges Committee has awarded this submission

EXCELLENCE IN BIOLOGICAL MEDICINE

PROJECT SUMMARY

Many people know snakes are dangerous but not a lot of people do not know how snake venom works, so I decided to do research on a few main toxins and did a video project on the Neurotoxin, mostly based on the dendrotoxin (subclass of Neurotoxin found in mambas). I made a video with basic animations of how the neurotoxin targets a neuron cell and how it works, also mentioning how it can improve science and life for 2021 and possible futures. I also mentioned some snakes possessing neurotoxins because that is what my project is mostly about. The video has image examples and references throughout it as well.

WHY?

I did this project to teach others about what exactly happens when a neurotoxic snake bites humans. Throughout this, I was trying to find ways on how neurotoxins can be useful and how they interact with human cells. Not many know what snake venom does when they bite so I thought it would be interesting for others know what goes on.

HOW?

I used my iPad to sketch out the process on how a neurotoxin worked through the neuron cell and later animated it to explain the process in a more clear matter. I researched their process and how they attack the cell such and which specific parts of the neuron cell they strike.

WHAT?

I found out that neurotoxins specifically target the acetylcholinesterase and the cholinergic neurons which are parts of the neuron cell found in the dendrites. Over all, I started animating the parts of the neuron that the toxin attacks and got halfway done, in the part where it is the acetylcholinesterase being torn down by the neurotoxin, later continuing to the parts of the cholinergic neurons which are technically neurotransmitters.

TheNeurotoxin.mov

SO WHAT?

After studying and finishing my project, I found out that neurotoxins are really specific and matter to humans. By studying how exactly they target specific parts of the cell in a almost perfect matter one can find new ways to apply that targeting system and possibly cure diseases such as cancer and even stop future viruses or pandemics faster than before. I also learned that animating is no where near as easy as I originally thought.

WHAT'S NEXT?

One thing I would've loved to add to my project where the other types of main toxins found in snake venom, the Hemotoxin, Cardiotoxin, Myotoxin, and Cytotoxin. I could also improve my project by adding more information and visual representations about the toxin and the cell interactions in general.

REFERENCES/ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Throughout this time, my father inspired and supported me to conduct research for possible ways to cure diseases to help prepare me for my future and I remembered in a past project and other stories I read about scientists studying snake venom to find cures for diseases and I decided to research more about that. I used ProCreate to make my presentation and animations, with an estimate about 90 animation frames. I also used Wikipedia to find resources in the reference section about neurotoxins and found a bunch of resources plus my already present knowledge about what a neurotoxin does, given from inferences of the name and past experience from documental and magazines by National Geographic.

JUDGES FEEDBACK

Congratulations on a very powerful and necessary biology and neurological project that was extremely informative and well organized. This amazing project reminded me of the Instituto Butantan in Sao Paulo, which has the largest collection of venomous creatures in the world in order to study the effects of venom as medicine. Regarding fungal neurotoxins, the magazine Scientific American recently had an article on the rise of deadly fungi - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/deadly-fungi-are-the-newest-emerging-microbe-threat-all-over-the-world/ . A further exploration I would suggest is stating which specific treatments were discovered in neurology as a result of using venom. Thank you for this important contribution.

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