The Knowledge Society<\/a> (TKS) is giving him the opportunity. It’s a competitive program for teens interested in becoming leaders in emerging science and technology.\n<\/p>\n Logan with his sister Madison.<\/p>\n
Logan Cyr\u00a0<\/p>\n
Through TKS, Logan has been investigating how to make \u201ca biological sensor made out of protein,” he says. While most genetic editing works by removing faulty DNA, Logan wants to fix genetic mutations before they develop using a special tool called a toehold-mediated strand displacement, which exchanges one strand of DNA or RNA with another.<\/p>\n
Logan first learned about TKS from an assistant principal at his school. Young people from around the world enroll in the months-long program and attend weekly in-person or online sessions with their assigned cohort. Overseen by two directors, the kids in each group work on projects that interest them as they build real-world, problem-solving skills and receive mentorship.<\/p>\n
Logan Cyr presented his project in March.<\/p>\n
Logan Cyr\u00a0<\/p>\n
Logan has already completed 10 months of research during his first stint in TKS, and is preparing for his second year.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can be Tony Stark,\u201d says Logan of the design process, referencing the genius inventor in the Marvel Universe, also known as Iron Man, \u201cbecause no one else has the drive or incentive to go try and do this.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
While he feels both \u201cinfinitely\u201d closer yet also farther away from a final solution, he says his ultimate goal is to one day create technology that would allow doctors to use a tablet to help patients with genetic malformations. Working like a biological spell checker, a toehold could help correct DNA errors before they cause damage.\n<\/p>\n
In March, Logan presented his research to fellow teens and leaders in the program in Calgary. It’s one of his favorite memories, he says.<\/p>\n
TKS was founded in 2016 by brothers Nadeem and Navid Nathoo.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe pretty much built a new education system with training young people for outlier outcomes in mind,\u201d says Nadeem. \u201cSo that’s the goal.”\n<\/p>\n
The Nathoo brothers, who also hail from Calgary, want to help teens change the course of their lives \u2014 and the world.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to accomplish anything amazing, you\u2019ve got to know what you want,\u201d says Nathoo. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to want it really badly, and then you\u2019ve got to believe you can do it, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Loga Cyr with his TKS cohort.<\/p>\n
Ben Ramnico<\/p>\n
Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n He says that\u2019s exactly what TKS is doing for students like Logan, who hopes his commitment and dedication will propel him to a future of unending possibility.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m going to graduate with high enough marks that I can go literally anywhere and do anything,\u201d he says. \u201cThat’s my plan.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW Logan Cyr, 16, is researching genetic malformations as part of an intensive science program for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3846],"tags":[267,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-254313","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-genetics","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114830695629760546","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}