Minnesota teen builds system that cut seizure recurrence by 70.1% in worms

Eva
Mo is
(Image
C edit:
Society
Fo
Scie ce)

Eightee -yea -old
Eva
Mo is
of
Sai t
Paul,
Mi esota,
has
developed
a
low-cost
expe ime tal
system
that
could
offe
esea che s
a
faste
way
to
study
how
b ai
stimulatio
might
co t ol
seizu es.
His
p oject,
called
SILENCE:
O -dema d
seizu e
supp essio
via
closed-loop
so oge etics,
uses
ge etically
modified
wo ms,
a
compute -co t olled
detectio
system
a d
ult asou d
to
ide tify
a d
i te upt
seizu e-like
activity.
Acco di g
to
the
Society
fo
Scie ce,
which
p ese ts
the
Rege e o
I te atio al
Scie ce
a d
E gi ee i g
Fai
(ISEF)
awa ds,
Mo is
eceived
the
$10,000
Ma y
Sue
Colema
Awa d
fo
Life
Scie ce
I ovatio
&
Impact
i
2026
fo
the
p oject.
I
his
expe ime ts,
the
system
educed
seizu e
ecu e ce
by
70.1%
a d
lowe ed
ove all
seizu e
activity
by
ea ly
30%.How
the
system
wo ksThe
p oject
is
based
o
a
co cept
called
so oge etics,
a
app oach
that
uses
ult asou d
to
i flue ce
ge etically
modified
cells.
Mo is
wo ked
with
Cae o habditis
elega s,
a
ti y
wo m
widely
used
i
biological
esea ch
because
its
e vous
system
ca
be
studied
i
co t olled
labo ato y
expe ime ts.

To
make
the
wo ms
espo sive
to
ult asou d,
Mo is
used
ge e
editi g
to
i t oduce
a
ult asou d-se sitive
cha el
i to
thei
b ai
cells,
acco di g
to
the
Society
fo
Scie ce.
He
the
developed
a
compute -co t olled
system
capable
of
ide tifyi g
seizu e-like
activity
i
the
wo ms.
Whe
the
system
detected
the
ab o mal
activity,
it
automatically
activated
a
ult asou d
stimulus
desig ed
to
i te upt
it.This
c eates
what
is
k ow
as
a
closed-loop
system.
I stead
of
applyi g
stimulatio
at
p edete mi ed
i te vals,
the
system
co ti uously
mo ito s
activity
a d
espo ds
whe
it
detects
a
specific
eve t.
That
disti ctio
is
impo ta t
fo
studyi g
eu omodulatio .
Resea che s
i vestigati g
b ai
stimulatio
eed
to
dete mi e
which
stimulatio
pa amete s,
such
as
timi g
a d
i te sity,
p oduce
the
most
useful
effects.
Fi di g
those
setti gs
ca
i volve
epeated
expe ime ts
a d
co side able
t ial
a d
e o .Mo is’s
system
was
desig ed
to
make
that
p ocess
faste
a d
less
expe sive
by
allowi g
stimulatio
to
be
automatically
delive ed
whe
seizu e-like
activity
occu s.Seizu e
ecu e ce
fellThe
esults
we e
pa ticula ly
otable
because
the
system
did
mo e
tha
simply
detect
ab o mal
activity.
Mo is
used
it
to
test
diffe e t
stimulatio
setti gs
a d
dete mi e
which
o es
we e
most
effective
at
supp essi g
seizu e-like
behaviou .Acco di g
to
the
Society
fo
Scie ce,
the
expe ime ts
showed
a
70.1%
eductio
i
seizu e
ecu e ce,
while
ove all
seizu e
activity
fell
by
ea ly
30%.
The
esults
a e
otable
because
they
show
that
the
system
could
be
used
to
test
diffe e t
stimulatio
setti gs
i
a
livi g
model.Mo is’s
wo k
does
ot
mea
that
the
wo m
system
is
itself
a
t eatme t
fo
epilepsy.
I stead,
its
pote tial
lies
i
p ovidi g
esea che s
with
a
expe ime tal
platfo m
fo
studyi g
how
stimulatio
affects
eu al
activity
a d
fo
ide tifyi g
p omisi g
setti gs
befo e
movi g
towa d
mo e
complex
studies.Why
the
esea ch
matte sO e
of
the
most
i te esti g
aspects
of
Mo is’s
p oject
is
its
combi atio
of
biology,
e gi ee i g
a d
compute
co t ol.
The
system
b i gs
togethe
ge etic
modificatio ,
ult asou d
stimulatio
a d
automated
seizu e
detectio
athe
tha
elyi g
o
a
si gle
labo ato y
tech ique.The
low-cost
desig
could
also
make
epeated
expe ime ts
mo e
accessible.
If
esea che s
ca
apidly
test
ma y
stimulatio
pa amete s
i
a
livi g
model,
they
may
be
able
to
ide tify
p omisi g
app oaches
mo e
efficie tly.
As
pe
the
Society
fo
Scie ce,
Mo is’s
wo k
could
co t ibute
to
faste ,
lowe -cost
ways
of
studyi g
b ai
stimulatio
i
livi g
systems.
The
p oject
also
ea ed
Mo is
fi st
place
i
the
Cellula
a d
Molecula
Biology
catego y
at
the
2026
Rege e o
ISEF.The
b oade
sig ifica ce
is
the efo e
ot
that
a
tee age
has
developed
a
eady-made
epilepsy
t eatme t,
but
that
he
has
c eated
a
elatively
i expe sive
expe ime tal
system
fo
explo i g
a
difficult
p oblem
i
eu oscie ce.
By
allowi g
seizu e-like
activity
to
be
detected
a d
stimulatio
to
be
delive ed
automatically,
Mo is’s
wo k
demo st ates
how
closed-loop
tech ology
could
help
esea che s
i vestigate
mo e
p ecise
app oaches
to
co t olli g
ab o mal
b ai
activity.His
esults
p ovide
a
ea ly
p oof
of
co cept
i
a
wo m
model,
a d
fu the
esea ch
would
be
eeded
to
dete mi e
whethe
simila
app oaches
ca
eve tually
t a slate
to
mo e
complex
biological
systems
a d,
ultimately,
huma
medici e.

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