Meet Austin Jin, 16, who built a CRISPR blood test for tuberculosis

Outside the lab, Jin captains his varsity swim team and co-presidents his DECA chapter. He also co-founded Project LIFE, a student-led initiative that has grown to over 20 chapters in eight states, with a mission to improve education and access to the bone marrow registry. Most teenagers go to a pathology office for a blood test. For Austin Jin, it was the launch pad to address one of medicine’s oldest and most enduring problems: diagnosing tuberculosis. A 16-year-old senior at William A. Shine Great Neck South High School in Great Neck, NY, developed M-CATCH, a diagnostic platform based on CRISPR that can detect tuberculosis from blood and identify drug-resistant strains. According to the Davidson Institute website, his work earned him the 2026 Davidson Fellowship and a $50,000 scholarship. Scroll down to read about his journey.Another approach to TB diagnosisTuberculosis remains a major global health threat with over a million deaths reported annually worldwide. But one of the biggest challenges in fighting the disease comes even before treatment starts: getting an accurate diagnosis. Sputum, the mucus produced deep in the lungs, is used in many standard TB tests. And that create...