HHS Student Designs New Fungicide to Protect Crops
Over 40 intense days this summer, Juan Serna, a student at Hutto High School, used wet lab techniques and modeling software to study an enzyme from a fungal pathogen, and to design a small molecule inhibitor to protect crops from that fungus.
Serna participated in the Summer Science Program (SSP) as one of 24 gifted science students who came from around the world for academic challenge, collaboration, and personal growth. Since 1959, this unique and highly selective program has offered teenagers their first taste of hands-on experimental research. Years and even decades later, many alumni describe it as “the educational experience of a lifetime”. Most go on to earn advanced degrees and leadership roles in their chosen careers.
Serna and his colleagues worked closely with university professors, met prominent guest speakers, and took behind-the-scenes tours of local scientific and cultural sites.
SSP is an independent non-profit, operated in cooperation with Caltech, MIT, New Mexico Tech, Univ. of Colorado at Boulder, and Purdue Univ. For more information visit www.summerscience.org.