From one person delving into our molecules to improve the quality of life to another exploring the possibility of life 600 million miles from Earth, explorers come in all packages.
Dr. Hayat Sindi is a Saudi medical researcher who is at the frontier of revolutionizing the healthcare of millions in the developing world, using something the size of a computer chip. Where labs in the most remote parts of the world take weeks to get life-saving results, Sindi's bio-technology detects diseases by analyzing body fluids. With a drop of blood, saliva, or urine on a disposable, low-tech, and inexpensive tiny piece of paper, a chemical reaction using light and sound occurs that can track faulty DNA. The beauty of this tool is that doctors can diagnose and instantly prescribe treatment to 200 people a day instead of wasting precious time waiting for results from some far-away lab.
Sindi, an inspiration to Middle Eastern girls and women especially, is also a Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellow, co-founder of Diagnostics For All, and is working towards building a biotech research center in Saudi Arabia. Almost more inspiring than her innovation is her inspiration to paving the way for more female Muslim scientists.
On the other end of the spectrum is Kevin Hand, a planetary scientist and astrobiologist who is working with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to find signs of life in the subsurface oceans on one of Jupiter's moons, Europa. Hand's efforts in developing the tools needed to collect data once an orbiting probe is sent to Europa won't begin until 2020, but he realizes there is also work much closer to home that needs to be done. Hand's Cosmos Education is a grassroots non-profit that improves science education for the youth in Africa by bringing experts in science and technology and hands-on workshops to the kids of Sub-Saharan developing nations.
As a national of a developing country, I believe there is an immense need for a greater understanding of science as a tool to help in the areas of health, technology, and sustainable development. At the Nat Geo panel, Sindi was asked what people thought of her paper-lab, and she responded, "They think it's magic." Needless to say that I am impressed with both Sindi's and Hand's efforts to bring science to the forefront and far reaches of our world. Their dedication gives girls and boys in developing countries the opportunity to someday themselves be "magicians."
Hayat Sindi: The Science Entrepreneur from Spark Project on Vimeo.
