Minnesota teen builds system that cut seizure recurrence by 70.1% in worms

Evan Morris (Image Credit: Society For Science) Eighteen-year-old Evan Morris of Saint Paul, Minnesota, has developed a low-cost experimental system that could offer researchers a faster way to study how brain stimulation might control seizures. His project, called SILENCE: On-demand seizure suppression via closed-loop sonogenetics, uses genetically modified worms, a computer-controlled detection system and ultrasound to identify and interrupt seizure-like activity. According to the Society for Science, which presents the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) awards, Morris received the $10,000 Mary Sue Coleman Award for Life Science Innovation & Impact in 2026 for the project. In his experiments, the system reduced seizure recurrence by 70.1% and lowered overall seizure activity by nearly 30%.How the system worksThe project is based on a concept called sonogenetics, an approach that uses ultrasound to influence genetically modified cells. Morris worked with Caenorhabditis elegans, a tiny worm widely used in biological research because its nervous system can be studied in controlled laboratory experiments.To make the worms responsive to ultrasound, Morris ...