Daniil Feldman
Class of 2005
Forest Hills High School
Topic: Nano-particles, Capable of Absorption and Emission in Near Infrared
About:
Cancer treatment is one of the most important goals that mankind has to achieve as fast as possible. For that, many scientists from different fields joined together. However, to my great surprise, I found that not only chemistry and biology (in other words, disciplines that seem to be related to medicine), but physics as well, could be quite useful.
The point of this research was to find a particular size of nano-particles of Silver Sulfide (Ag 2S) that would be capable of absorption and emission in Near Infrared (NIR). Why NIR? Waves of this length (800-1100nm) penetrate through human skin very well and are not harmful. Also, they can be used in heating different things (especially those made from metal) up. Now, as it is known, intense heat is lethal to cells. Thus, if one managed to get tiny metal balls inside a tumor and excite it with NIR laser, that particular cell would die.
First two weeks were spent on learning the names of equipment, their use, and, of course, the theory that stood behind the research. It was very exciting to “play around” with real lasers, CCD spectrometers, optical filters, fibers, and other “stuff”. Then it was time to prepare different-sized Ag 2S particles. With the help of chemistry professors from Hunter College, we were able to get nano-particles of sizes 200, 25, and 10nm. Although these dimensions were as small as we could prepare, it was not enough. Nevertheless, it was decided to test them anyway. Last four weeks were spent in almost complete darkness, changing lasers, trying different foci, and optical filters, looking for any signs of fluorescence. Unfortunately, we were not able to detect any, although CCD spectrometer showed a tiny increase in absorbance at about 930nm. That is why future work is required.
For a couple of years already I have been quite certain in going into science field. The research experience made this will even stronger. Of course, this opportunity would not be possible without Project SEED and Harlem Children Society. Thanks to these institutions I can now say that I had one of the mos…No, I’d better say THE MOST interesting and challenging summers in my life.
Experience:
I had never ever imagined before that science could be so much fun and excitement, besides its importance.
For the first time in my life I had to deal with something more serious and expensive than school equipment, namely: Lasers, CCD Spectrometers, Tungsten-Halogen Light Sources, Fibers, Cryostats, Liquid Helium, etc.
The research I was working on was about Silver Sulfide Nanoparticles. The thing is, there are about dozen different nanoparticles, capable of treating infected cells, particularly tumors and cancer cells. Two of them are nanoshells and quantum dots. Nanoshells are able to absorb heat (Near Infrared Radiation (NIR)) rapidly, and thus kill the cells they are in. Quantum Dots can glow when excited with Ultraviolet Radiation and image cancer cells. Now, imagine a particle that will treat and image a sick cell simultaneously. One of the candidates was Silver Sulfide. This is the compound I’ve been working with for eight weeks. I had to learn how to prepare it, how to set up the test, what to measure, what to expect, etc, etc. Of course, without the help of my mentors I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I’d like to thank them once more for having patience to teach, to show, to explain. Thank you.
But what is the point of the excitement of doing research if you don’t have anyone you can share it with? Dr. Sat Bhattacharya and Harlem Children Society (HCS) provided this opportunity in weekly HCS seminars. Students, doing different researches at different institutions gathered two times a week at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and presented their work, i.e. what had they done already, what are their results/expected results, etc, etc. A lot of interesting things could be learned from these meetings, a lot of new friends could be met, friends with same/opposite interest, friends that could combine their knowledge in order to come up with something even more valuable that their first research project, although that first research project is most important thing in every scientists’ life. Sounds funny, huh? Anyway, I’d like to thank Dr. Sat and HCS for giving us the opportunity to share our excitement and to make new friends. Thank you too.