Cosmos Research Center

13 year old Alyssa Chan of Olivenhain is a finalist at the Discovery Channel Science Fair:

"An eighth-grader at The Rhoades School in Encinitas, Alyssa will be one of 40 middle school students and the only one from San Diego County to compete in the final round of a national science fair sponsored by the Discovery Channel.

The finalists were chosen to attend the competition, which starts tomorrow, Oct 21, 2007, in Washington, D.C., from an initial pool of 7,000 regional science fair winners.

Alyssa believes science is infectious.

“I think a lot of times I make a lot of other kids excited about science,” she said. “I can explain things to them, and this competition is about finding a good science communicator.”

Alyssa's project seeks to push back the frontiers of understanding of one of today's most vexing health issues for older Americans – Alzheimer's, a debilitating brain disease that affects 4.5 million Americans. The cause and cure remain mysteries. She studied the correlation between Alzheimer's disease and higher concentrations of hydrogen peroxide in the brain.

The enzyme catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide, so Alyssa decided to see if metal salts and the agent EDTA (ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid) might be helpful in breaking down harmful hydrogen peroxide.

She found that aluminum and zinc slowed the catalase reaction, whereas manganese and magnesium sped it up. Calcium had little impact. Alyssa unexpectedly discovered that a combination of EDTA and metal ions consistently reduced catalase activity.

“This could significantly (slow) the breakdown of hydrogen peroxide and impact catalase's ability to protect the cell from death," she said.

Her career aspiration is to become a neurosurgeon because "the brain controls all functions of the body."