CCSD High School Students Earn Honors in National Science Competition

Two Cherokee County School District students earned honors in a national science competition!

Cherokee High School rising seniors Raphael Aca and Elliana Mathews earned honorable mention in the prestigious Genes in Space contest.  

The national science competition annually invites seventh- through 12th-grade students to develop a real-world proposal for a DNA experiment for space.  Only 30 students nationwide were named semifinalists, and, of those, only 10 received honorable mention and only five were named finalists to advance in the competition.

Raphael and Elliana’s project, “Investigation on irregular growth patterns during fetal development in space,” was praised by judges for its groundbreaking approach to molecular biology in space exploration.

Their proposal focused on the effects of cosmic radiation and microgravity on fetal development to gain greater understanding of the epigenetic regulation of crucial genes like IGF2 and H19, pivotal in mammalian fetal growth and development.  The research would advance comprehension of reproductive biology in space, laying the groundwork for future exploration and colonization beyond Earth. 

Their project advisor was Cherokee HS AP and Honors Biology teacher Lori Pangburn, their teacher for Advanced Genetics/DNA Research this past school year.
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