April 26, 2016

Anna-Sophia Bougarev watches Space X8 launch from Kennedy Space Center. (Photo credit: © Amplyus LLC' (miniPCR parent company)

Anna-Sophia Bougarev has been fascinated with space since she was four years old. Thirteen years later she watched as her very own lab experiment was launched into space on SpaceX 8 to the International Space Station (ISS).

Anna-Sophia's experiment was chosen out of 700 entries in the inaugural Genes in Space competition, which challenges high-school students to design DNA experiments. The experiment will test the effects of space environment and microgravity on astronauts' immune systems.

The FedEx Space Solutions and the FedEx HealthCare Solutions teams provided the terrestrial shipment from Yale Medical School to Kennedy Space Center. Upon return from ISS, scientists hope to use the findings as part of a greater effort to engineer the immune system to attack and kill cancer and other auto-immune diseases.

  • Anna-Sophia Bougarev in Giraldez Lab at Yale Medical School

  • Anna-Sophia Bougarev with Genes in Space experiment ready to ship

  • FedEx courier Markus Wright with Genes in Space experiment


FedEx Corporation issued this content on 26 April 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 26 April 2016 19:15:11 UTC

Original Document: http://about.van.fedex.com/blog/fedex-helps-teen-launch-experiment-space/