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A Canadian student has found the "elixir of youth"
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
A 16-year-old Canadian student has won the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge after discovering an antioxidant that can slow down aging. The antioxidant is made up of nanoparticles and is found in large quantities in the fibers of living trees.
The young and gifted "biochemist" in a skirt is called Janiel Tam. The extraordinary and incredibly important for science invention that the girl made brought her not only first place in a prestigious competition and fame, but also enriched her by 5 thousand dollars - the main prize of the competition in the field of biotechnology.
The annual Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge is comprised of some of Canada's most renowned and distinguished scientists.
To make her astonishing discovery, the young Ottawa student spent four hours a day in a chemistry lab for six months. She spent most of her time researching a specific molecule: NCC. It is crystallized nano-cellulose. It is found in the fibers of living trees and is a powerful antioxidant that slows down the aging process.
In relation to the human body, it behaves much more stably and more effectively than the well-known vitamins A and C. In addition, the time of action of this antioxidant on the human body is longer.
Scientists believe that this discovery could potentially bring the Canadian about $250 million. However, first they want to carefully study the mechanism of action of this molecule.
Perhaps soon the world will have a real Canadian "elixir of youth"