- WHEN I WAS 18 YEARS OLD, I WAS SELLING VACUUM CLEANERS,
AND AT THE SAME AGE, OUR NEXT GUEST
HAS ALREADY DEVELOPED A POTENTIAL TREATMENT
FOR BREAST CANCER.
HER NAME IS SARA SAKOWITZ.
SARA, COME ON DOWN. WHERE ARE YOU?
[cheers and applause]
HI!
- OH, MY GOD. - HI, SARA.
[cheers and applause]
HOW ARE YOU? - THIS IS A SURPRISE.
- SURPRISE. - OH, MY GOD.
- YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST COMING TO A TAPING?
- YEAH. - YEAH, NO.
WE WANT TO TALK TO SOMEBODY LIKE YOU,
WHO IS WORKING ON CURING CANCER.
I MEAN, THAT'S A PRETTY BIG DEAL.
YOU'RE 18 YEARS OLD, AND YOU'RE WORKING ON A--
SO HOW-- YOU'RE A COLLEGE STUDENT, RIGHT?
- I AM.
- AND SO HOW DID THIS COME UP, THAT YOU'RE WORKING ON THIS?
- SO MY FRIENDS KIND OF-- THEY TELL ME I LIVE
THIS CRAZY DOUBLE LIFE
BECAUSE, BY DAY, I'M A FRESHMAN AT COLUMBIA.
I'M STUDYING BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING.
AND THEN AT NIGHT, I GUESS WHEN EVERYONE ELSE
IS GOING TO FRAT PARTIES,
I'M GOING TO MY CANCER RESEARCH LAB,
PUTTING ON A LAB COAT, AND RESEARCHING BREAST CANCER.
- WOW, AND DO YOU HAVE SOMEONE IN YOUR FAMILY
THAT YOU--THAT-- WHAT SPARKED THIS?
- SO WHEN I WAS NINE,
MY COUSIN DIED FROM BREAST CANCER,
AND THAT WAS REALLY THE FIRST TIME
I HAD EVER, I THINK, ENCOUNTERED DEATH
SO CLOSE TO MY FAMILY,
AND I FELT THE IMPACT IT HAD ON EVERYONE AROUND ME.
AND SCIENCE WAS ALREADY BIG IN MY LIFE,
AND I THOUGHT I NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND,
REALLY, THE SCIENCE BEHIND CANCER
TO GET PAST, I GUESS, THE SHOCK.
AND THEN WHEN I TURNED 16,
I STARTED AT MY FIRST CANCER RESEARCH LAB,
AND THAT WAS KIND OF THE BEGINNING.
- WOW, IT'S AMAZING.
SO YOU WERE JUST DRAWN TO THIS.
AND HOW DOES YOUR TREATMENT WORK?
- SO BASICALLY EVERYONE HAS GENES,
AND GENES ARE KIND OF LIKE ON-OFF SWITCHES,
AND AGAINST CANCER, GENES CAN ACTUALLY ACT LIKE AN ARMY.
SO EVERYONE HAS GENES THAT CAN PREVENT THE BLOCK--
OR PREVENT THE SPREAD OF CANCER.
BUT WHEN CANCER-- OR WHEN CANCER STARTS,
A LOT OF THESE GENES ARE ACTUALLY SWITCHED OFF,
SO THEY'RE TURNED OFF.
AND SO FROM THE VERY BEGINNING,
WHAT I'VE BEEN WORKING TO DO
IS TURN ON THESE IMPORTANT ANTI-CANCER GENES,
AND WHAT MY TREATMENT, OR THERAPY, DOES
IS ACTUALLY PREVENT THE SILENCING OF THOSE GENES
IN THE FIRST PLACE.
SO THE HOPE IS THAT IT CAN PREVENT
THE PROGRESSION OF CANCER.
- YEAH. THAT'S AMAZING.
[cheers and applause]
SO...
[applause]
COULD IT--IS THIS JUST FOR BREAST CANCER?
COULD THIS WORK FOR ANY AND ALL CANCER?
OR ARE DIFFERENT CANCERS TREATED IN DIFFERENT WAYS?
- SO THE MOST EXCITING PART OF MY RESEARCH,
I THINK, IS THAT
WHERE OTHER THERAPIES HAVE FOCUSED ON,
YOU KNOW, SPECIFIC ELEMENTS OF SPECIFIC CANCERS,
MY--THE MECHANISM THAT UNDERLIES MY THERAPY
IS NOT ONLY FOUND IN BREAST CANCER.
IT'S FOUND IN EVERYTHING
FROM LUNG CANCER TO COLON CANCER.
AND THE CHEMICAL THAT I ACTUALLY--
I USE TO BLOCK THE PATHWAY IN THE FIRST PLACE
WAS FIRST INTRODUCED TO A DIFFERENT TYPE OF CANCER,
LYMPHOMA,
SO I'M REALLY HOPING THAT THIS TYPE OF THERAPY
CAN BE EXTENDED FROM LYMPHOMA TO BREAST CANCER
TO MANY OTHER TYPES OF CANCERS TOO.
- SARA, GOOD FOR YOU. IT'S AMAZING.
- THANK YOU.
- THAT'S AMAZING, WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
18 YEARS OLD.
YOU ARE CHANGING THE WORLD. - THANK YOU.
- SO THIS YEAR, WE ARE PARTNERING
WITH GOOGLE "MADE WITH CODE,"
AND THEY'RE COMMITTED TO HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE
PURSUE CAREERS IN TECHNOLOGY.
FROM CURING CANCER TO CREATING APPS,
CODING IS A WAY TO ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS.
AND IF THERE'S ONE THING I KNOW ABOUT,
IT'S CODING,
SO I'M GONNA DO SOME CODING RIGHT NOW.
I WANT TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING.
ANDY, BRING OUT MY NEW COMPUTER, PLEASE.
[laughter]
THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THERE'S NO NEED TO PLUG IT IN.
[laughter]
LET'S SEE IF WE HAVE EVERYTHING READY TO GO.
WE--GOOD TO GO? OKAY.
OKAY.
- THIS IS REALLY IMPRESSIVE. - THANKS.
JUST TAKE A LOOK AT MY CODING.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR-- - OH.
- OKAY?
IT'S JUST ABOUT TO START WORKING.
- YEAH, THAT WORKS PRETTY WELL.
- OKAY.
THAT'S FOR YOU, SARA. - OH, MY GOD.
[cheers and applause]
THANK YOU SO MUCH.
[cheers and applause]
OH, MY GOD.
THANK YOU SO MUCH. - THAT'S MY CODING.
- OH, MY GOD.
- TO SEE MORE AMAZING STORIES LIKE SARA'S,
GO TO MADEWITHCODE.COM.
WE'LL BE BACK. - THANK YOU.
[cheers and applause]