Hilana is a member of her school's tennis club and enjoys playing piano and cello and riding horses. She would like to become a neurologist. "I hope to pursue my study in Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia because I would like, hopefully, to find the cure for these dreadful diseases," says Hilana.
Hilana notes her grandfather, recently diagnosed with vascular dementia, as her mentor. "My grandfather, suffering through this disease, has inspired my interest in science."
Hilana got the idea for her project after a discussion in science class about the possibility that electromagnetic radiation (EMR) could be detrimental to humans. Hilana decided to test this theory by studying the effects of EMR on the mutation rate in Drosophila melanogaster. Hilana hypothesized that increasing the EMR in the environment would lead to an increase in the fruit fly mutation rate.
Hilana set up nine vials of flies. Five vials were placed behind her computer, and four were set up as controls and placed 2 feet away from her computer. A milligauss meter reading indicated that the EMR was higher directly behind her computer as compared with an area 2 feet away. After 10 days, she removed the adult flies from the vials. She counted the flies emerging from pupa and noted the sex. The results showed that the flies that emerged from vials behind the computer were yellow instead of the normal dark brown and that there was a greater percentage of males than females. Furthermore, the females that emerged from the vial had a low survival rate, and similar results showed up in a second trial. Hilana proved her hypothesis that EMR affects mutation rates through her observations that EMR caused discoloration in the body of the flies and affected survival and gender development.
