San Gabriel Student Vies for Science Honor
Tessa Walters, the teen-age scientist of San Gabriel High School, was scheduled to board a 7:30 a.m. flight this morning, bound for the finals of the prestigious 50th annual Westinghouse Science Talent Search.
Tessa, who turned 17 this week, will compete with 39 other national finalists, all high school seniors, for a $40,000 scholarship and 10 awards of at least $10,000. All finalists will get $1,000 and an all-expenses-paid, five-day trip to the national finals at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C.
Five former finalists have gone on to win Nobel Prizes. Two have earned Fields Medals, the Nobel equivalent in mathematics. Twenty-eight have been elected to the National Academy of Science. More than half are either teaching or engaged in research at colleges or universities, according to Science Service, the nonprofit Washington organization that administers the search and aims to promote the public understanding of science.
Tessa’s project involved devel oping a drug with potential for treating high blood pressure. Under the guidance of Caltech scientists, Tessa began looking at the protein building blocks that made up the venom of the Brazilian pit viper. The snake’s venom had long been known to “turn off” an enzyme whose’s activity contributes to high blood pressure.
Because Westinghouse contest rules prohibit live animal experimentation, she was unable to test whether her creation caused side effects. Nonetheless, “I ended up with four or five (enzyme) inhibitors of my own design that were better than the natural venom,” she says. “They were close to some of the synthetic blood-pressure drugs on the market today” and are possibly marketable, given more testing.
Her California competition for top honors consists of:
* Wei-Jen Jerry Shan, 17, of Riverside, who used a homemade water tunnel to develop an equation for selecting the optimum length for the wings of a plane. He also ranks first in his class.
* Rageshree Ramachandran, 15, of Fair Oaks, who performed computer-based research on a model that explains changes in ocean climate. Rageshree ranks first in her class and won the 1988 National Spelling Bee.
Tessa says a lot will depend on making a good impression during a series of short interviews with the scientists doing the judging. She studied the research each of the judges has conducted during the past two years so she can talk about that as well as her own work.
Her nonresearch activities include varsity volleyball and debate, playing the violin and painting. She hopes to attend Harvard and pursue an honors major in chemistry and physics.
Winners will be announced March 4.
