Three US girls won the top prizes in a global science fair launched by Google for their projects on ovarian cancer, grilled chicken and indoor air quality, the Internet giant announced Tuesday. The grand prize winner was Shree Bose, who entered in the 17-18 age group and won a $50,000 scholarship, a trip to the Galapagos Islands with a National Geographic Explorer and an internship at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN).
"Shree discovered a way to improve ovarian cancer treatment for patients when they have built up a resistance to certain chemotherapy drugs," said a Google blog post about the winners. The other two top winners were Lauren Hodge in the 13-14 age group and Naomi Shah in the 15-16 age group.
Hodge "studied the effect of different marinades on the level of potentially harmful carcinogens in grilled chicken," Google said. The pair each won $25,000 scholarships and internships at Google and LEGO. The science fair was the first such project launched by Google, and was announced in January.