The famous example of Alexander Fleming’s mouldy petri dish teaches us that even a failed experiment has the potential to deliver something new and exciting.

Seventeen-year-old Julie Xu and her friend Annie Wang, 18, will vouch for that following their win in the Calgary regional judging of this year’s Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge.

For while the two Grade 12 students from Calgary’s Sir Winston Churchill High School failed to prove their initial theory about the bacteria found in the lungs of people suffering from cystic fibrosis (CF), their project did raise the prospect of a better way to treat this incurable, genetically-inherited disease.

Julie and Annie set out to investigate how two very different organisms, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (an aerobic bacterium found in the sputum of 80% of CF patients) and the less common – and anaerobic – Prevotella spp., can live together and interact in the oxygen-rich environment of the CF sufferer’s lungs.

Their hypothesis was that the two bacteria co-exist in spherical particles. As oxygen enters the particle it is consumed by the aerobe, creating an oxygen-free environment in which the aerobe and anaerobe co-exist.

Although the young researchers ultimately were unable to substantiate their hypothesis, their long hours in the laboratory did yield an intriguing result: when P. aeruginosa and Prevotella were co-cultured within the same sphere, P. aeruginosa grew more quickly than when it was cultured alone.

Annie and Julie believe this is an important area for further study that could see the treatment focus shift from the aerobic to the anaerobic organisms in the CF patient’s lungs.

“It may be better to target anaerobic bacteria such as Prevotella,” said Julie. “Then you not only eliminate that species, you also prevent it from enhancing the growth of other species. Prevotella’s ability to degrade antibiotics used to treat CF makes the case even more compelling.”

The SABC success of Annie Wang and Julie Xu proves things that the rewards of research often come from unexpected places.

The pair was inspired to enter the competition by past SABC Calgary region winners from Sir Winston Churchill High School, students at which have now won the top prize in each of the past three years. “They told us what a great experience and how much fun it is to work with a mentor in a lab doing serious research,” says Annie.

Both girls have their sights set on further scientific studies after they graduate high school. Julie will be going to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; Annie’s university options are still open.